Embers (Scales 'N' Spells 4)

“I’ll arm wrestle Ravi for the next shot at the incubators.” Nikki bounced in place a little before smacking a kiss on Gunter’s mouth. “We can start in on the nursery in the meantime. Lots of kids, okay? I’m talking a dozen.”

“A dozen—?!” Gunter spluttered. “No! Nikki, I love you, but no. How about two?”

“Two? Two?! Hell no, we’ve got a clan to rebuild, but I can compromise. I can come down to ten.”

Gunter passed a hand over his face. Ten. Ten little Nikkis running around.

No, pretty sure the world would not survive.

“We’ve got time to discuss this,” Gunter finally said. “It’ll be a good year yet before we can use the incubators again.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

And maybe by that point, Gunter could talk his mate down to a reasonable number. Like three.

Anything over six was a very firm no. He was absolutely not budging on that.

Gunter was up to something.

Nikki wasn’t sure exactly what his dragon was up to, but they could feel the excited, nervous energy bubbling in him ever since they’d finished dinner and were strolling back to their rooms.

Tonight was going to be their first real night of just staying in and enjoying some time alone since the Jaeggi battle nearly a week ago. With the Jaeggi defeated, there were new mages to be settled, wounds to be healed, and critical information to be gathered before many of the dragons from both the Ice Dragon Clan and the Sodalicium returned home. Nikki had also started therapy this past week. Well, Gunter and Nikki, really. Gunter wanted to be supportive and part of the process, and Nikki really appreciated that. Some of this was so hard to talk about, and if not for Gunter solidly at their side, Nikki wasn’t sure if they would have managed it.

Their days had been filled with constant work. Gunter was interviewing every mage and dragon he could lay his hands on so that the information could be properly entered into books and databases. Their dragon was determined to record as much of the lost information as he could from before the Dragon War.

At the same time, Nikki had been bouncing between all the little mage groups. Each of the different clans were holding special classes and seminars to teach what they knew. Most days Nikki felt like their head was going to explode. And that was when they weren’t helping Sora with his patients and Tori in the greenhouses.

Then, after dinner each night, there were parties. It was like the different dragon clans were trying to outdo each other with their insanity. Though, Nikki was still saying Ravi had won with his version of dragon Twister that had the added bonus of being a drinking game for mages. They had to do a shot every time a dragon fell over. Nikki didn’t remember a lot of that night.

But after days of hard work and nights of boisterous revelry, Nikki was looking forward to snuggling with their dragon. Maybe watching a movie. And then, sex. Yes, definitely sex.

As soon as they reached their apartment and Gunter closed the door behind them, Nikki spun on their heel, arms crossed over their chest and eyes narrowed.

“Alright, out with it. What are you plotting?” Nikki demanded.

A slow smile curled Gunter’s lips, and he closed the distance between them, placing a kiss on the center of their forehead. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t try to be coy with me, Mr. Dragon. I know you. I’m your mate, officially, now. I can feel you plotting something. I thought we were just going to have a quiet night in, just the two of us.”

“We are,” Gunter agreed lightly. He started toward the walk-in closet, pulling at his tie as he went.

Nikki huffed and grumbled about sneaky dragons as they followed on his heels. Some of the huffiness might have left as they watched Gunter slide off his tie and carefully hang it up in its very specific place on the tie rack. He then shed his suit jacket and hung it up before unbuttoning the top couple of buttons on his shirt.

There was something about watching Gunter undress that made them feel warm and fuzzy. Determined not to get sidetracked by his striptease, Nikki forced their eyes away from Gunter’s long, dexterous fingers.

“You’re not off the hook. What are you scheming? Do I need to call Ravi for help dragging it out of you?”

Gunter threw them a dark, warning look. “That’s just mean.”

“And you’re keeping secrets.” Nikki walked into the closet and wrapped their arms around Gunter’s waist, snuggling their face into his chest. In their best pouty voice, Nikki said, “I’m your mate. You’re not supposed to keep secrets from me.”

Gunter chuckled and hugged them. “That’s just it, little one. I realized tonight that in all the chaos of our bonding and the battle with the Jaeggi, I’m still keeping a very big secret from you, and it’s time I shared it.”