Breath (Scales 'n' Spells 2)

But right at that moment, he very much wanted to hold Tori. He needed to hug Tori.

It was more than that, though. Even without touching him, Baldewin knew simply embracing Tori wouldn’t be enough. He needed to pull the smaller man into his lap and hold him. He wanted to nuzzle his face into Tori’s slender neck and breathe in his scent so he could carry a small piece of Tori around with him wherever he went.

At first, he’d thought he was merely reacting to the hard life the mage had suffered. But the more he interacted with Tori, the more he realized it wasn’t Tori’s situation he was reacting to but Tori himself. Even after everything he’d been through—the lies, the clear verbal abuse, the poor treatment—there was a bone-deep strength to the man that simply awed Baldewin. Despite all his attempts to protect Tori, it was clear he was strong enough to take care of himself. He didn’t need a grumbly dragon to slay his enemies. Tori was doing okay on his own.

But that didn’t mean Baldewin was going to stop trying.

And yes, maybe it didn’t hurt that Tori was pretty damn sexy. Those hypnotic grey eyes had snared him from the start, but there was also something about his mouth when he was shooting sarcastic comments at him that left Baldewin wanting to kiss away those words. His dragon was also pressing for kisses, which was a little worrying since his dragon didn’t normally care about such things.

There would be no hugging—and definitely no kissing—anytime soon. Tori was still prickly around him.

He gathered everything back into the bag instead, stowing it in the back seat, and then resumed his place in the driver’s seat. Following the GPS, they traveled to the hotel in silence. A heavy, weighted silence.

It gave Baldewin a chance to think. What could he say to dispel Tori’s unease? To convince him to go with them? It was becoming disturbingly clear that Baldewin needed Tori to go to Burkhard Castle not just because it was the safest place for the mage. He wasn’t sure he could stand to be parted from him.

But he didn’t know if he had the words. Or even the right perspective. To him, it was natural that a dragon would protect a mage. But to a mage abandoned by his clan—or one who escaped his clan, Baldewin wasn’t sure which was the case here—perhaps that stance was not so easily assumed.

Maybe it shouldn’t be him to argue the point. Maybe Baldewin should hand this off to someone who had the right perspective.

But learning a little more about the man couldn’t hurt, surely. He cleared his throat and threw out a conversational lure. “I noticed the guitar. What style do you prefer, classical? Rock?”

Tori threw him a glance. “I just like music. I guess I favor classical, though.”

“Yeah? I’m rather the same. I picked up a guitar once in Spain, which is where I learned to play it. But I favor more a Chet Atkins style.”

Tori looked at him in surprise. “You play?”

“I do. I love music. It’s the main thing I spend time doing, playing. If we ever get the chance, we should jam together.”

“But what do you play?” Tori challenged, a hint of intrigue in the words. “You say Chet Atkins, so it’s more picking?”

“And that.” Baldewin felt a hint of mischief sneak out to play at the corners of his mouth. Oh, if Tori only knew how invested he was in music. “Really, there’s not a style of music I don’t like. I might not love every song from a genre, but I generally like at least some of it.”

“Hmmm.”

No further comment. Ah, well. Baldewin had gotten him to open up at least a little, there.

In the hotel lobby, Warin met them with key cards in hand. Tori followed them up, insisting on carrying his own backpack, although Baldewin won the argument over the guitar case.

The hotel was nice. Cassie had done good shopping, despite it being spur of the moment. The rooms were clean and large, the beds covered in white fluffy comforters. Tori didn’t sit on one of the beds, but he dropped his backpack in the corner chair, looking around with the corners of his mouth quirking up, clearly pleased.

“Tori.” Baldewin carefully phrased the words in his head as he held up his phone. “I don’t have the right words to assuage your unease. What if I let you speak to someone who can understand you?”

“Like who?” Tori asked uncertainly.

“Another mage. One adopted into our clan. They’d best understand your concerns.”

“I…” Tori trailed off, turning to stare blankly at the wall. He stayed like that for several seconds, mulling this offer over. “Yes. Alright, I’ll listen.”

Progress. Baldewin clenched his teeth to hold in an exuberant sound. Just that was progress, as Tori wouldn’t even listen two days ago. He didn’t waste any time in calling up Cameron.