Breath (Scales 'n' Spells 2)

“Uh-huh. It’s going to take way more than a blowjob to relax me before that dinner,” Tori grumbled.

Grabbing the mage’s hips, Baldewin leaned up on his protesting knees and placed a kiss against Tori’s T-shirt-covered stomach. “Anything you want. Anything to make you happy.”

Tori smiled at him and leaned down for another lingering kiss. “You’re too easy,” he murmured against his damp lips. “Take me to lunch, my fierce dragon. You can warn me about what to expect at dinner.”

If Tori was nervous about the state dinner, he wasn’t showing it yet. He still seemed to be happy about their enjoyable encounter in the greenhouse. They quickly cleaned themselves and the mess that Baldewin had made before heading to the dining hall for lunch. And quite possibly the best part? They held hands the entire way to the dining hall. Maybe Tori was right and he was too easy when it came to the mage, but he didn’t care. With every smile, laugh, and teasing comment, Baldewin’s soul soared. Tori was his. It was only a matter of time before the mage realized they were fated to be together.

Tori really, really wanted to blame Baldewin for this entire state dinner thing he found himself at, but he knew it wasn’t Baldewin’s fault.

And he definitely couldn’t complain about the blowjob that had temporarily distracted him and scrambled his brains. Holy shit, that man’s mouth was amazing. He desperately wanted to discover all the things that Baldewin could do with his tongue, but they couldn’t. Because they were both sitting at a dinner with not one but two kings.

If someone had told him just a few weeks ago that he’d be sitting at this fancy dinner surrounded by dragon royalty and other mages who looked at him like he was someone worthwhile, he would have laughed his ass off. His life had taken an incredibly strange and unexpected turn, but as he squeezed Baldewin’s hand yet again while the next delicious course of food was brought in, Tori couldn’t bring himself to deny that he was enjoying himself just a little bit.

His entire world had become this slightly surreal, strange place. He was part of a clan. A dragon clan. He was valued for his skills with magic. He was paid to work magic. Two kings had invited him to dinner because they valued his opinion. Yeah, that part was definitely a little crazy, and he was still expecting someone to call him out as a total fraud.

But until that happened, he’d just cling to Baldewin and enjoy the food that was placed in front of him.

Baldewin had explained that they were eating in a rarely-used royal dining room reserved for visiting dignitaries and the royal family, when they preferred to eat away from the rest of the clan. Since coming to Burkhard, Tori had noticed that Alric almost always ate with the rest of the clan in the main dining hall, seeming to prefer being surrounded by his people rather than alone or just with his mate.

Of course, Cameron was clearly a social creature, easily conversing with just about anyone who entered his orbit. If they used the royal dining room, Tori could imagine that half the castle would be invited inside for “private” dinners.

It was a shame it wasn’t used more often. The tall windows lining one wall faced the southwest, offering up a stunning view of the sunset and the mountains against a rich sky of purple, deep blue, crimson, and orange. The walls were white, but two of them were covered in exquisitely painted murals of playful summer scenes in the woods.

They were all gathered around a beautiful, long table and eating off delicate china that was probably as old as the dragons in the room. The seating arrangement was a little unexpected. Tori had thought that the Burkhard dragons would be on one end and the Valerii dragons on the other end. But when Baldewin ushered him into a chair, he found Rodrigo sitting directly on Alric’s left across from Cameron. Tori was seated on Cameron’s right, and Baldewin was beside Tori, thank god. From there, it was a rotation of Burkhard and Valerii dragons and mages, as if they were all one big happy family.

And maybe the Valerii were content to at least pretend to be a family, judging by the way they kept watching Tori. He got it. He completely understood. He was the only thing standing between them and an entire clan of mages unclaimed by dragons.

Though, he wasn’t sure how happy they’d be about those mages once Tori started talking.

“I wish to thank you again for agreeing to have dinner with us this evening,” Rodrigo began with a warm smile as he met Tori’s gaze. “I can only guess that this entire ordeal has been very trying and exhausting for you. King Alric has informed us that the Taavi Clan is currently under the mistaken belief that dragons are the culprit for the war. To find yourself now surrounded by dragons must be…” He waved one hand at his side as if searching for the right word.