There was a digestive pause. “Alric. Why the hell are you in dragon form in your own office?”
“Cassie, help,” Alric whimpered. “We’re stuck; we can’t shift back.”
“Okay, first of all, who’s we?”
“Gunter’s in here with me.”
Cassie sounded on the verge of laughing as she demanded, “Wait, is he also in dragon form?”
Gunter didn’t appreciate the sound of a camera going off. She was taking pictures of this, wasn’t she? “Cassie, help!”
“Oh god. I think I know what happened, but confirm it for me. You two got drunk for some reason, lost control of yourselves, went dragon, and now you’re all tangled up together, aren’t you?”
Both he and Alric just sighed.
“I now understand why the two of you are banned from drinking together.” Cassie snickered, thoroughly enjoying this situation. “Hey, Cam? Bro, you gotta come over to the king’s study. Well, your husband is drunk. Nooo, this is not adorable drunk, although it’s fucking hilarious. He’s shifted over to dragon form in his study. Yeah, pretty sure the furniture inside is now kindling. He and Gunter are both tangled up together. Yeah, Gunter too. Seriously, they think they’re stuck in dragon form—they’re whining at me to help them. I think you’re going to have to come in and talk your boy down. Yeah, okay. Alric, breathe, Cameron’s coming, he’ll be here in a second.”
That was all fine and well for them, but that didn’t help Gunter. “I want Nikki.”
One didn’t need to see Cassie’s face to know she was amused as hell by this demand. “Nikki, huh? Alright, sure, I’ll call Nikki. Will that calm you down, Gunter?”
“Yes,” he said petulantly.
“Right. Man, so glad I’m recording this right now. Hey, Nikki? Hey, Gunter’s up in Alric’s study in dragon form. I have no idea why, honestly, but they’re both pretty drunk and stuck together. Gunter’s demanding to see you. Maybe come up, try to talk him through switching back to human form? Sure, I’m not moving from here until you and Cameron can get them untangled. You bet. Okay, Gunter, your joyfriend is coming.”
Gunter sighed deeply, at least a decade’s worth of sighs all packed into one. “But they’re not my joyfriend.”
“Ahh, Gunter, do you have a sad because they’re not your joyfriend?”
Gunter whined, feeling tears well up in his eyes.
“Do you want me to tell you how to fix it?”
The tears paused. Cassie knew how to fix it? “Yes?”
“When Nikki gets here, shift over to human form first and then kiss them. Okay?”
“I just have to kiss them?”
“That’ll do it, trust me.”
Gunter could totally kiss Nikki. That was totally something he could do.
Pounding footsteps came at a run. It wasn’t Nikki, though, Nikki’s run was lighter. Must be Cameron.
This observation was confirmed a moment later when Cameron demanded, “Is that my husband’s foot sticking out of the door?”
“A fact I confirmed by tickling.”
“Of course you did. Alric?”
“Cameron, I’m stuck,” Alric told him with a whiny growl, shifting a little and pinching Gunter further against the wall in the process. “My dragon won’t shift back.”
“Uhh…okay. I really want to know what happened here, but you know, I was waiting for you in our rooms. I had a whole thing set out with hot towels and oils and those heated rocks you like so much.”
Alric paused, voice turning wistful. “Even the heated rocks?”
“Full on massage service, happy ending included. Wouldn’t you rather come home with me and do that than stay in there?”
Alric’s dragon apparently needed no further encouragement. He promptly shifted, leaving him lying on his side on the wrecked coffee table.
“There’s my hubby,” Cameron crooned.
Which was all fine and well for Alric, but where was Gunter’s mage?
With Alric no longer blocking his view, Gunter could see the doorway with one eye. When Nikki arrived, panting and red in the face, he let out a happy thump with his tail. Something may have splintered at the movement. He hushed his tail absently. There was his mage!
“Gunter,” Nikki said, panting, a hand on the door jamb for balance. “Why are you in dragon form?”
“Nikki,” Gunter whined, rolling his eyes pitifully. “Nikki, I’m stuck.”
Nikki looked to Cameron for help. “How did you get the king to shift back?”
“Bribes,” Cameron informed him.
“Oh.”
Gunter’s tail thumped again, hopefully. “Nikki, if I shift, will you kiss me?”
The oddest expression flitted over Nikki’s face, and Nikki promised with hand over heart, “I will kiss you lots if you shift back.”
Ooh, lots of kisses, even better. Gunter could shift for lots of kisses.
The dragon side of him was in complete agreement with this. Kissing his mate was a currently higher priority than killing the Jaeggi.
Gunter shifted with no trouble at all, leaving him shirtless and draped over the chair like a dying cat. But he had no time to lay there; he wanted to kiss Nikki.
Nikki was quick to dart to Gunter’s side, helping to pull him up and steady him as he found his feet. Which was thoughtful of them. Nikki was always so thoughtful. Gunter should kiss Nikki for being thoughtful.