Dragon Eggs Under the Tree (Starscale Mates #4)

Chapter Ten

Brender

The next morning, I discovered that Saer had a dream where both Stellan and I were lost at sea. I listened patiently while I made pancakes to Stellan try again to reassure the hatchling that we weren’t going anywhere, and Kevin wasn’t lost at sea. He was living on a houseboat with his true-mate, and he was pretty sure they both knew how to navigate the oceans.

“But you won’t go, right?” he asked.

“Brender?” Stellan said and I glanced over my shoulder.

“You were asking me?” I asked, laying the spatula aside.

“Yeah,” he nodded, bags under his eyes from the nightmare that no kid should have.

“Buddy, I wouldn’t stay lost at sea. I’d just fly back home. I’m not going anywhere. You and your dad can’t get rid of me that easily.”

He chuckled but I wasn’t sure if he got the joke.

“Don’t want to get rid of you,” he shook his head, convincing me I was right about that last part. “Oliver not lost either?”

I tilted my head and listened for my brother over our family link.

“Nope. He’s not lost. He’s playing his game again.”

“Okay. Good. No one get lost,” he said and climbed from his own seat into Stellan’s lap.

“He gets like this sometimes. He’s a really good talker except for when he’s tired or scared.

“What are you scared of, buddy?” I asked, turning to face the pancakes again.

“Of being alone forever,” he said.

“Why would that happen?” I asked.

“Don’t know,” he shook his head.

“Well, your dad and I aren’t going anywhere. I’m sorry you miss Kevin.”

Stellan winced and I cursed myself silently. I’d seen it with the kids I worked with if their parents broke up with a non-parental partner. They missed them more than their parents ever guessed they would if they were decent people.

“How about we send him a Yuletide card?” Stellan suggested.

“Can I draw it?” Saer asked, sitting upright.

“Of course,” Stellan nodded. “He’d like that.”

Saer ran off to his playroom for a few minutes of art before breakfast and I waited for Stellan to scold me.

“Sorry,” I said when he didn’t say anything.

“For what?” he asked.

“Bringing up him missing Kevin.”

“No,” Stellan sighed. “You’re right. I know how attached kids get. Do you think this will last forever?”

“No,” I shook my head. “Not forever. Kids can be resilient, and he’ll realize that we’re not going anywhere. We’re the sort of mates that stick together.”

“I’m sorry too,” he said. “About last night.”

“Last night was fun. Abrupt but fun,” I grinned over my shoulder.

“I--- I wanted to,” he said.

“I could smell that.”

Stellan blushed. So, I didn’t say anything else as I plated up the pancakes and pig bacon.

“Maybe we could set up a playdate for Saer and your brother,” he said, as I carried the food to the table.

“Are you sure you want to trust Oliver to watch him?” I asked.

“Well, if we’re in the same house but just upstairs maybe,” he laughed. “I mean, it’s not like we have a lot of options. Preschool tomorrow but that’s forever away.”

“I can wait if you can. If not, I’ll text Oliver. Might be good for him to have a tiny bit of responsibility that he can’t ignore like he can a tree. I mean, Saer does know how to open doors. So, he’ll fare better than the tree. He has youngest kid syndrome. I think our parents hoped that him moving in with me would make him grow up some. Maybe I’m just as guilty as them at not making him be an adult.”

“No one wants their family members to have hard lives. That’s why our ancestors came here. Sure, he probably needs more exercise and fresh air than he gets but as long as he’s not hurting anyone – the tree notwithstanding,” Stellan laughed. “How about we ask Saer how he feels about it?”

“How about I ask Oliver first?” I asked, turning to scoop my phone up off the counter. “Don’t want to get kiddo’s hopes up if my brother wants to be an A-S-S.”

“He’d have every right to since we’d sorta be pawning him ---”

“No,” I shook my head. “I’m not asking him if you’re going to feel bad about it.”

“Of course, I’m going to feel bad about it. I’d be sending him to a babysitter so we could---”

“Exchange our claiming vows and keep our sanity?” I filled in the blank for him.

“Okay, when you say it like that, it doesn’t sound as bad.”

“Exactly. You’re allowed to have a life while still being a dad. You have to have a life or you’re going to burn out. Not because he’s hard to take care of but because we’re not meant to not have breaks and space to take care of ourselves. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted me to take him so you could get a nap or read a book or something today. I’ve seen parents burn out. It’s not good for you or him. So, if I can take some weight off you, let me know.”

“I don’t think I could concentrate on a book right now. What if we start doing stuff and I go into H-E-A-T? I mean, I’ve had the shot and stuff, but the magic of this situation never seems to care about that.”

“I could call my parents,” I offered. “They’re more responsible than me even,” I winked at him.

“Do you want kids? I mean with me.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I’ve always wanted a family. If you want to wait until Saer is older, that’s okay too.”

“I think we’d be okay with two. I think Saer would like a little sibling,” Stellan grinned.

“Do you have enough energy and bandwidth for that?”

“I think so,” he nodded. “You’d take leave too, right?”

“Absolutely. I’ll be the first to admit it. Given my personality, I’ll never pressure you for anything sexual or to be some sort of super housekeeping omega, but while you’re pregnant, I’ll probably be a bit overprotective of you and the baby. I’ll probably worry about everything that you eat or drink and once you lay the egg, I’ll probably get my sword out to protect it. I’m chill as F-U-C-K but I also know how to F-U-C-K someone up.”

“That’s f-ing hot,” Stellan said, his voice dropping low. “Text your brother, please.”

And I did. Oliver was hesitant to agree to be responsible for a mini dragon for any length of time. I spared him the details of what Stellan and I had planned but reminded him how much he loved hanging out with me when he was a kid despite our age differences. Over breakfast, we went back and forth on what would be an appropriate outing. Eventually, I talked (over text) Stellan into agreeing to Oliver taking him sledding on the big hill behind our house. Surprisingly, Saer was up for it and didn’t ask why we weren’t coming.

“Uncle Oliver wanted to know if you want to go sledding with him?” Stellan asked, as Saer finished the last of his jam-covered pancakes.

“Just me?”

“Well, we thought you might want to get to know him without us around to bug you all,” Stellan said.

“Does he have a sled?” Saer asked me.

“We have several at the house,” I nodded. “And a helmet that should fit you.”

“Helmet? I’m not going down on my head, silly!” he laughed.

“We know that,” Stellan said, “but you have to wear your helmet just in case.”

“But I’ll be careful!”

“We know that,” I nodded, “but if you don’t wear your helmet Uncle Oliver might not want to wear his and you remember that poor tree.”

“Poor tree,” he shook his head and thought about it for a moment. “Okay. I’ll wear it and make sure Uncle Oliver wears his too.”

“Okay. If you want to go he’ll pick you up in an hour. Then later we’ll pick you up at my house,” I explained.

“Okay. Pizza again?”

“Maybe,” Stellan shrugged. “Maybe tacos.”

“TACOS!” He cheered and that subject was closed.

Chapter Eleven

Stellan

Letting Saer go with Oliver wasn’t the easiest thing I ever did but it was doable. Saer left holding his new uncle’s hand and chatting away about how they both needed to wear helmets before switching to asking him if trees had dreams. They were too far away from me to hear Oliver’s answer, but I laughed anyway.

The front door was still open when Brender wrapped his arms around me from behind. I leaned into his warmth as big fluffy snowflakes fell all around outside.

“They’ll be okay,” he said and kissed my shoulder not far from where my claiming gland was. “And I was doing some reading online. You’re unlikely to go into heat while you have a young kid. Unless you’re separated for days – which you won’t be – your hormones won’t allow it. So, we’re probably in the clear on that one.”

“Nice to know. Thanks, teacher.”

“Knowledge is power or in this case, reassurance that it’ll all be okay. I’m still down for you taking this time out to rest or whatever if you want.”

“Uh, as if I could think about anything but you while I tried to rest,” I said, closing the front door and turning in his arms to face him.

“I could go down on you while you relaxed,” he smirked.

“Still don’t think I could read a book,” I teased him.

“Well, I’d damn well hope not. I’m not that bad at life,” he laughed and kissed my shoulder.

My claiming gland ached not far from where he kissed. The skin was already taut over it and everything inside of me wanted him to chomp down right then and there. The claiming vows usually went hand in hand with a pair of true-mates’ first time together. It was a call back to the ancient magic that happened in some far-off place before any of us were born into the more solid world. We knew our mates then. We chose each other and decided to stick it out through every lifetime we could find each other in. It was a miracle we met back up again, and the claiming vows allowed that miracle not to drive us crazy. Being so wild about Brender while knowing so little about him wasn’t the easiest thing but I was ready to roll with it until the claiming vows showed me more of who he was.

“You showed off what your tongue and fingers could do last night. So, I doubt you’re bad at anything, but it’s my turn to show off,” I growled, and a smoke ring danced from my nose. We both fanned it away, our fingertips brushing against each other. Then I dropped to my knees right there in the entryway and undid his fly.

“Not so nervous today, huh?” he smirked down at me, running his fingers through my hair.

My dragon shifted my eyes to his and I didn’t dignify Brender’s sexy smartassery with a verbal response. Instead, I freed his thick cock, scattered with tiny black scales here and there and licked around its thick head. A shiver passed through him and it was my turn to smirk. His fingers massaged my skull as I teased his tip, savoring the warmth of his skin against my tongue. I licked down his shaft and back up, marking it as mine – just like every bit of him was. A smoke ring escaped my nose when I breathed out, but neither of us bothered to fan it away. Let the house burn down around us – as long as we finally exchanged our claiming vows. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of my inner beast’s monologue. He could burn down a house on his own time as long as it wasn’t my house. For now, I kept my focus on the man standing hard and practically naked in front of me.

“You taste good,” I said but didn’t give Brender time to answer before I slipped my mouth over him.

A grunt of pleasure bubbled over his lips and his hands slid down to cradle my face. Gripping his hips, I slid my mouth down him as far as I could, teasing every scale I could reach with my tongue. His hips bucked, knocking him further into my throat. I pulled back and sank down again, losing myself to him.

His breathing quickened and his heartbeat filled my ears just as his scent filled my head. He was the only other person in the whole of the Starscale worlds for that moment and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I lost myself to him – to the swift, smooth motions of sucking on him. His scales played against my tongue with each pass until his fingertips dug hard into my flesh. He was close already. How long had it been for him? He mentioned something about his dragon not letting him finish himself but that was a joke, right? I’d ask him later because right then I couldn’t think straight anymore. I was hard and slick, and the magic of the true-mate response made my head spin. All I knew was that I wanted the warm, sticky proof of his pleasure to slide down my throat.

Letting go of one of his hips, I cupped his balls, heavy from the need to spill out. I took a breath and slid my mouth down him again and again, going faster as his grip guided me and his hips rocked ever so slightly not quite fucking my face, but almost – the perfect balance between submission and taking over.

Brender let go of my face as scales popped up on his knuckles and his dragon’s claws broke free from where his fingernails usually resided. I gasped for air through my nose but didn’t stop sucking on him. I moved faster, his guttural sounds of need urging me ever forward. His long, thick cock trembled against my tongue and a second later the reward for all my efforts paid off. His warm, sticky seed spilled into my mouth, raining down on my tongue as I swallowed the proof of just how much Brender enjoyed being inside my mouth. He panted for air as I kept going until there wasn’t a drop left in him. He pulled me up to my feet and kissed me hard between pants before resting his forehead against mine. I panted for air too unsure if it was the exertion or magic of the moment stealing my breath.

Reaching behind him, he cracked the door just enough to let in fresh air. Goosebumps rose on my flesh as the chilly outside air played over us. He kissed me gently, his tongue moving with my own until I thought we might meld into a single person if we didn’t stop soon.

“Back on the table,” Brender whispered, in the nick of time before we really were just one dragon forever.

“Door,” I pointed to it, and he nodded.

I made my way back into the kitchen retrieving the snowflake patterned tablecloth from under the sink where I stashed it the night before. Brender kicked off his pants and stood in the doorway basking in the fresh air in all his naked glory for a few seconds before shutting it and joining me in the kitchen. He motioned for me to get back on the table as I had the night before. I opened my mouth to tell him I wanted to cum more than I needed any more massages. His fingers were magical but there were places he’d skipped over last night desperate for his attention.

“On your belly, mate,” he growled, and I scrambled onto the table, slick, hard, and eager to discover what he had in store for me.

Brender’s big, strong hands ran up and down my calves, caressing me and giving me another round of goosebumps. He climbed up onto the table with me, spreading my legs and opening me to all the cool air from outside still dancing around the room. His nimble fingers kneaded into my ass cheeks, massaging them and pulling them apart. I was so slick – slicker than I thought. My desire pooled there around my omegahole waiting for his next move. I shook my ass at him, silently begging him to give me something – anything. Waiting hadn’t been easy for me either even though I was the one who made him wait.

He moved behind me, sliding partially onto his belly with his feet back on the floor. His hands pushed my ass cheeks apart and his tongue sought out the most sensitive, intimate area of my body. He lapped at the slickness pooled there around my needy hole. His warm tongue traced circles around it, licking away the proof of my endless arousal. I arched my hips, begging him for more.

“Watch out for the table if your claws come out,” he reminded me, and I realized that’s why he’d stood in the doorway to cool off. His dragon needed a second to regain his composure because his claws were nowhere in sight now.

He licked over my desperate hole and a moan escaped my lips. His big hands held me in place, and I grabbed the tablecloth, making fists around it as need coiled around my center and pleasure spiraled up and down my spine, tensing every muscle in my body. I breathed hard as his mouth sank lower, licking and sucking at my scrotum, and two of his long digits discovered my hole for themselves. I was so ready for him – whatever he’d give me – that his fingers slid easily inside me, brushing against all the nerve endings that I had forgotten about. I drew in a sharp breath and for a second didn’t think I’d get it back out. His fingers rocked just right, hitting my sweetest spot, and a moan bubbled over my lips taking the air with it. I ground my hips back in time with his rocking fingers, savoring the building pressure, and imagining how glorious it would feel when his long, thick dick finally slid home into me.

It'd been a long time for me – too long since I actually gave into the type of mind-bending pleasure I was on the edge of. Brender wasn’t slowing down either. He gave me more and more until I was a bundle of burning nerves all crying out for release and wondering where he’d touch me next. I humped against the table, brushing my dick against the tablecloth, grateful I remembered it. Cleaning up would definitely be a lot easier. I slapped the table, letting go of the tablecloth, as everything inside me burnt too hot – too warm – too much to hold back as his fingers rocked quicker inside me and his tongue teased me everywhere it could reach.

“Fuck!” I hissed under my breath over and over again. “Brender – Brender – Brender –” his name rolled off my tongue, but I couldn’t finished verbalizing my thoughts. I was close and I couldn’t tell him but he didn’t need the words. My body trembled as everything inside me exploded all at once and the proof of my delight made a mess all over me and added its own pattern over the snowflakes.

When he was sure I was done, he inched his way up the table and lay on top of me, holding me close. Our hearts pounded inside our chests, beating out the same rhythms. I pulled his hand up close to my face, kissed it, then nuzzled it. I still hadn’t had enough of him. I still needed our claiming vows. He did too. I didn’t need to hear the words any more than he did. Each time his heart pounded inside his chest it called to me through lust or magic or maybe that little fucked up thing called fate – it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter what it was as long as we were together.

Slowly, we caught our breath and grew hard again. Stretching out his arm, Brender gripped the top of one of the table legs and shook it hard.

“Don’t jack off the table!” I laughed.

“I’m seeing if it’s sturdy enough for what I have in mind,” he said. “I think it’ll hold up or we can go somewhere else if you want to.”

“Let’s not break the table. A new one might be easy to get but explaining how it got broken…”

“Gotcha,” Brender said, kissing my neck and grinding down against my ass.

“Yeah, let’s move while we can. Let me toss this into the washing machine,” I said, tugging at the tablecloth.

“Don’t start it yet. Who knows what else I’ll make you mess up?” he teased.

Reaching behind me, I gave him a half-assed slap on the butt. He laughed, nibbled my ear and got off the table so I could get up too.