Pib watched as the dragon laughed, relieved he wasn’t angry. His laugh made Pib want to purr, which was strange since he’d never had that sort of reaction to anyone before. It wasn’t too long before Dray got a hold of himself, and Pib smiled at the man, feeling Wil staring at him.
“So tell me, how did you get back into my cave when I blocked it off?” Dray asked, putting his hands on his hips.
“It’s a secret. If I told you, I’d have to kill you, and you’re too pretty to kill,” Pib replied, then turned to Wil. “Let’s go and get some food. The tavern should have something for the midday meal ready, and I definitely deserve it, racing here and saving your asses.”
Pib winked at Wil and shifted, waiting for the two men to change to their other forms so they could go. Based on the shocked expressions on their faces, he could be waiting a while. Less than five minutes later, once they finally got over their shock, Pib was facing his brother’s wolf and the sapphire dragon. He sat still when the dragon came up to him and simply waited to see what he would do. Pib was not prepared for the dragon to lick his face, and therefore, he overbalanced and ended up on his back before quickly rolling to his side and getting up on all fours.
Glaring at the dragon wasn’t hard; resisting the urge to unleash his claws and take a swipe at the smirking face proved to be the bigger challenge. Hearing Wil laughing in his wolf form, Pib made a split-second decision and leaped at his brother, sending them both tumbling. They play-fought for a little while until they were both lying there panting with exhaustion.
Pib had just closed his eyes, deciding to take a quick nap before going to get food, when he heard Wil yip. Snapping his eyes open, he tried to figure out what was going on but he was too late. In the next second, he was facing Wil while his side was pressed up against the chest of a dragon.
What…oh shit!
Just as Pib realized what was going to happen, Dray launched himself into the sky, his two passengers firmly in his grip. Pib had to restrain himself from shifting so he could yell at the dragon, or from biting him in serval form. The rational part of his mind knew that if he shifted, Dray’s grip on him would change and there would be a slight possibility of him falling to the ground. Biting him could surprise Dray and also make him release his grip, not just on him but on Wil too.
Pib quietly seethed while his cat purred. Mentally he tried to figure out what was behind the purring, but he decided that it had to be the scenery below as they flew through the air, and not the dragon holding them.
Yeah, right.
In no time at all, they came to the edge of the village and Dray landed on his back legs before carefully depositing both of them on the ground. Pib stood and looked around, seeing if there was anyone nearby when the dragon licked his back from head to tail.
Jumping away from Dray, Pib shifted back in seconds. “What the fuck? Why do you keep licking me, you crazy dragon?” His serval had no issue with the dragon licking his coat. If the dragon wanted to keep them clean, then his serval was happy to lie there and let him help.
When Wil burst out laughing, Pib turned to glare at him, but before he could say anything, Wil shocked him. “Haven’t you figured it out? He’s marking you, giving you a scent since you’re masking yours.”
Swinging back to look at Dray, Pib opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
****
Dray found it amusing, watching Pib stand there opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Chuckling mentally to himself, Dray shifted and walked over to the other man, using two fingers to gently close his mouth.
“I’m just making sure that the next time you’re in my cave, when I can’t find your scent, there’ll be a faint scent of me in amongst the nothingness, revealing you were there.”
“How do you know there’ll be a next time?” Pib asked, a stubborn look on his face while his eyes twinkled.
“Because like you said, cats like shiny things, and my treasure cave is full of them.” Dray smirked, then whispered so low that only Pib would hear him. “And you’ve been coming there for over a month, leaving me messages and pictures.”
“You started it, I’ve just been responding,” Pib whispered back.
“If you two are done flirting, let’s go and get some food,” Wil said from the side.
“Flirting!” Pib exclaimed. Dray suspected it was more to do with being surprised rather than objecting to the fact that they were flirting.
“We’re done for now,” Dray replied, then laughed when Pib turned to glare at him.
Walking past, Dray inhaled, and while he still couldn’t pick up Pib’s natural scent, he could pick up his own. As a wave of possessiveness surged through him, his dragon rumbled happily. Somewhere along the way, his dragon had decided that the thief was theirs.
Wil was shaking his head, but there was a smile on his face so Dray wasn’t worried. The grumbling he could hear behind him let him know that Pib was following them.
Good, otherwise I might have had to grab him and carry him…again.
The three of them entered the tavern and found a table to occupy, then made their food orders, taking turns to clean up before their meals arrived. Once they were all sitting with their food in front of them, Dray asked a question that had been bugging him.
“So how long have you known that the lords destroyed the previous houses?” he asked, glancing from one man to the other.
Wil sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I suspected from day one, but without any proof, there wasn’t anything I could do. Hell, even with proof, there probably wouldn’t have been anything I could do about it.”
Dray nodded, then turned to Pib, raising a brow. He got an eye roll and a huff, but Pib did respond. “I suspected as soon as Wil told me what happened to the other houses and the materials they’d been construct from. Those jackasses are lucky to still be walking,” Pib growled out.
“Why did the soldiers run when they saw your face?” Dray asked, looking at the captivating man in front of him. He didn’t know if Pib realized his hood was still down, but Dray suspected that he did. Very little seemed to get past the man. Staring into his eyes, Dray saw wariness creep into them before he appeared to steel himself about whatever he was about to say.
“There are no soldiers here, which means they would have come from one or more of the kingdoms. I’m lucky enough to be known throughout almost all of the kingdoms.”
The way Pib practically spat the word lucky was enough of an indication that Pib didn’t consider it a good thing at all. Dray wanted to cuddle the man close, but he suspected he’d end up with a hissing, biting, scratching serval in seconds so he restrained himself…barely.
“Why were you known?” Dray asked, instinctively knowing that the answer was important.
The resignation in Pib’s eyes was almost his undoing, but his words chilled him to the bone. “Because I was the right hand of the man now known as Prince Geraint.”