Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

H awk watched with bemusement over the next few weeks as Cosmo and Cullen and Corbin fortified the house.

Corbin grew roses at an alarming rate. They were beautiful and healthy, but large and thorny. And they took up the entire front of the house. What didn't get covered in roses got covered in ivy and other vines that worked their way into the stones, into the wood, and strengthened everything.

Cullen practiced illusions. Practiced hiding the entire house, which was a lovely trick, but would not particularly fool a vampire. It did panic Corbin at one point when he returned from the greenhouse to find the house gone…

Cosmo. Well, Cosmo worried him. Cosmo looked pale and sad and not at all rosy like he should. Hawk wanted to tell him not to borrow trouble; if the vampires came, they would come. Why work oneself into a frenzy if it wasn't going to happen?

And he'd meant what he said. There wasn't a vampire on earth who could withstand a flow of lava. Now, that didn't mean that he wouldn't burn the house down, but such trade-offs were required sometimes. He hoped that wouldn't happen, but they could always rebuild, he supposed.

Instead of letting Cosmo mope around for the rest of the day, Hawk was going to tempt his lover into exploring more of the house. They hadn't done that since the lovely day that they had spent having tea and cookies in the library, but now he wanted to find the sandpit. He really wanted to get his scales polished, and he wanted to teach Cosmo how wonderful that was as well. It really did a mind and body good.

He started his seduction, so to speak, with long stretching. and low moaning, and stealing a peek at his mate to see if perhaps his Cosmo had noticed.

No.

He pursed his lips and really stretched again, longer this time, arms going wide.

When that didn't get a response, he huffed out a breath that smelled vaguely reminiscent of brimstone.

"Are you all right?" Cosmo came hurrying over, expression concerned. "Is everything all right?"

"Oh, mate." He sighed. "I itch. I itch most terribly."

"It's all right, I'll scratch you. Here." Cosmo held out his hands, and Hawk shook his head.

"No, no, no. I was wondering… I have tea and lovely sandwiches and cookies and chalk already in the bag. I have the urge to explore."

A hint of light lit up his mate's eyes, and he was on the right track. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Absolutely not. It could be incredibly naughty. Let's go down to the basement." He went for his best grin, which could at times be considered incredibly toothy. Thank goodness Cosmo loved him.

"Oh, the basement. Do you think we could go right now? Would be so nice to just do something rather than…nothing."

He held up his little pack. He hadn't put it together, of course. His wonderful housemates had, but it was all meant well. He'd asked for it. "We could go right now."

Then he held out his hand, and he was so pleased when Cosmo's fingers twined with his. They were warm, the touch solid for the first time in days. Present.

They didn't even tell Corbin and Cullen where they were going, but they didn't have to.

The triplets were eternally bonded, and there was absolutely no doubt they could feel Cosmo's excitement, his eagerness to go wander.

The big basement door was in the kitchen, and he pulled it open, laughing as it made it horrific screech.

"No matter how many times I oil this door," he told Cosmo. "It makes this noise. I think it's haunted."

Cosmo peered at the door, taking specific interest in the hinges. "I think perhaps you're right, at least partially. More inhabited and less haunted. It seems as if there may be a tiny sprite living inside the upper hinge."

"Well, I'll stop pouring oil into your home," he yelled toward the door, and he swore he heard a tiny?—

"That would be much appreciated."

His Cosmo was handy as a pocket on a shirt.

They wandered down the big stairs, which were nowhere near as terrifying as one would think basement stairs ought to be. They were wide and stone and suitable for a dragon who might have to shift in very close quarters, especially a very big dragon, and so it was quite the easy wander down.

The walls were covered in tapestries to warm everything a bit. There were some images of dragons, some of mighty towers, some familial crests.

But for the most part, they were bucolic landscapes.

Hawk liked the idea of the sun being down in the basement and flowers and growing things. Not that things in the dark didn't grow, but for the most part, they could be unpleasant.

"These are beautiful," Cosmo told him. "I don't remember them being here when I peeked in."

"No, no, that basement is the not-me basement."

"The not-you basement?" Cosmo chuckled softly.

"Yes, it takes a certain will, if you would like, to see my basement. The other basement is more for show. Like a pretend basement. It's quite dank, and I let odd things grow there. It discourages too much investigation."

Cosmo rolled with his laughter. "I like it."

"Thank you, my love. I thought it was rather clever." He smiled and bounced, because it was all brand new, showing things to Cosmo. In all honesty, some of it was new to him anyway. There were so many things that were different, but he knew where they were going. Vaguely.

Hawk led Cosmo down a large flagstone hallway. The walls were covered in more tapestries, and as they got farther down, the stones warmed under their feet. Like most dragon hideouts, his had a geothermal pocket to it. It didn't have hot springs, but it did have the handy sandpit.

He really did enjoy that. He could smell the vaguely sulfurous smell that one usually associated with mineral waters. But in this case, it would be the heat rising off the sand, so they had to be close.

"Oh, wow. I can smell that," Cosmo told him. "That's kind of amazing."

Hawk nodded eagerly. "I know. Somewhere down on the other side of all of that is my hoard."

"Really? I need to see that too. But first, I want to scrub your scales. I know you said you itch."

"I do. And I also want a picnic with you. It's just fun."

Cosmo laughed. And it was so good to hear. He'd been so down. Hawk didn't want his love to be sad. He wanted him to be happy that they were together, and he wanted to be able to provide that happiness.

Swinging his hand, Cosmo was almost running now, and they tumbled through the halls. A warren of mazelike, although not small, corridors. He had spent a great deal of time as a dragon instead of a man over the years, and he'd designed things so that he could move around and also so that he could defend his home.

Stone burned way less than wood or even glass. It took much hotter temperatures to make it melt, after all. And it was way easier to scrub the soot off, and also whatever other sorts of things might be left after a battle. Hence Cullen saying that he still had blood to scrub out of his part of the house. Hawk had a feeling that was mostly wood considering that was part of the A-frame.

Wood fibers just drank up the blood. It was never going to get all the way out.

Cosmo wandered with him, floating around to explore the things that he had hidden—a gemstone here, a little statue in a niche there. He hadn't thought at the time that he was hiding them to amuse his mate, but magic worked in mysterious ways.

Perhaps he had been, and he just hadn't known it.

They wandered until they got down to the sandpit, the staircase opening up to a huge room that was lit by dozens of huge stones that glowed with enclosed magma, the walls shiny obsidian, reflecting the light and fragmenting it.

"Oh… Oh, look, love—" Cosmo sounded absolutely stunned, and that pleased him down to the core. This was more than his house. This space was his heartbeat, his center, and the fact that his mate thought it was beautiful honored him deeply.

"You like it? I've worked on it for many, many years until it was just the way I wanted it." He took a deep breath, let it out in a sigh. "It's been a while since I've been here. I can tell there's a little dusting needs to be done."

"A little bit, but it's doable. Are the rocks hot?"

"Warm, yes, but they won't burn you." There is no way that he could burn his mate. He knew it.

"Oh, sound good. Let's get to work."

And there was some work to be done. The random cobweb the size of a truck, a few critters that needed encouragement to move, and the periodic lump of glass that he created when he fell asleep in the sandpit and snored. That was always such a challenge. It did make for interesting sculptures in the house, though.

Cosmo picked one of the rather large pieces of glass up, tilting his head. "This is fascinating. Are the little drip parts on the side where you drooled lava?"

"Don't make me beat you." He laughed, his entire self cracking up, because not only was it funny, but it was basically true. He wasn't sure—he'd been asleep.

Cosmo carefully took the pieces of glass to the side of the pit, arranging them like a little army. "They're beautiful. I like them."

Hawk gave Cosmo a sideways glance. "You do?"

"Of course I do. They're manifestations of you." He got a sparkling grin. "Now food or naked first?"

"Mmmm. Food. It will be better in this form. When I get naked and in the sand, I'm liable to go big on you, and then these tidbits will be too small." Hawk waved a hand. "And I wish to enjoy our snack together."

"Ah. Well, then." Cosmo beamed. "Let's have some nibbles."

"Yes, let's." Hawk picked his way across the sand to an area where Cosmo could sit, brushing it off a little and putting down a blanket. That would make it nicer for when they ate.

He unpacked the repast the brothers had made for him, humming, because he approved. Sandwiches. Fruit. Cookies. Water, and a thermos of tea. How lovely and civilized.

He poured the tea into the provided mugs, which were some unbreakable material. Very 1950s.

"So, tell me more about your home," he asked Cosmo, teasing.

His rose looked at him, confused. "This is my home."

Hawk chuckled, tickled pink—pun intended. "No, I mean where you grew up. Tell me something about it that I don't know."

Cosmo shrugged. "It's always summer. It's always beautiful. The sun always shines and the flowers bloom. Everyone is beautiful. Perfect. To be honest, it's kind of boring. I mean it's not as…pat as all that, but it is peaceful and simple. You are born in the class that you're born in. You stay there. You have education, and you learn the things that you're supposed to learn. I can't even say that I was isolated, because I had my brothers—so while there might only be three dragon-fae mixes in the summer land, there were three of us. And my father doesn't seem too unhappy."

"No?" Hawk was intrigued. "So he went there to be with her?"

"He did. He couldn't bear the idea of losing his lover, and he couldn't stand the idea of not seeing his children grow up." Cosmo leaned hard into him, sipping his tea. "She was out here in this world when she got pregnant. I think she'd come to give Dad some sort of a warning? You know, watch out, the mountain's gonna explode. Vesuvius was a little tricksy in those day, you know. But instead of going back home, she stuck around, I guess."

"Oh my. That's fascinating. Also, she was pregnant when she went home?"

Cosmo nodded. "Yeah. And then, when they wouldn't let Dad come, she went to him and threatened to stay in the human world forever and raise her babies. So they changed the rules and let him in."

"Is he happy?"

"He seems to be pretty satisfied. He makes things, and he takes care of Mom and gardens and lets her boss him around. It's kind of adorable. Sweet."

"And they never had any more children."

Cosmo shook his head. "No. They never came back out into the human world, and I guess that's how that works. When they come out into this place where the magic is wild and untamed, they can do that thing, and then, boom. You get us."

And thank goodness for that. "I can't think of anything I'd want more."

Cosmo widened his eyes. "Hey, now. Cullen and Corbin and I are practically perfect in every?—"

"Yes, yes. That line, I know." He handed Cosmo a sandwich. "I just mean that your brothers are very protective. I'm not sure I would wish to contend with even more of that." He gave Cosmo a warm look. "You, I adore."

"As you should," Cosmo said promptly, then flushed again, laughing. "I'm just giving you shit."

"What on earth would I want with shit?" He tried, and failed, to keep a straight face.

"Don't make me beat you." Cosmo popped a piece of sandwich into his mouth, effectively shutting him up. "At some point, I'm sure that my mother will pop out and see us. Dad never leaves anymore. He used to, but I haven't seen him do it in forever."

Curious. "No? Why?"

"Politics. What if they decide once he leaves that they wouldn't let him come back? He and Mom are a thing. They couldn't do without each other. Like I said, he's pretty happy. He makes his wood creatures and potters around in the garden, and… They make each other laugh."

"We should all hope for something so wonderful."

"Well, fortunately for you, you have it." Cosmo threw his arms open with a happy laugh, wrinkling his nose playfully. "I am hilarious."

"You're beautiful, and I want to get all dragony with you and wallow in the sand." Hawk craved it, even.

"I can do that. First, though, let me polish your scales. It's going to feel so good."

They put the food away carefully, and both stripped down, heading into the sand, the black dust sliding under their feet. It was perfectly smooth, silken as they walked.

"It gets warmer toward the middle," he warned. "In fact, in the very center, it's almost hot."

Cosmo hummed and nodded. "Noted. Good for scales, not so good for skins, is that what you're saying?"

"Exactly."

Cosmo took a kiss, hand sliding down his back, and then they both knelt on the sand. It was so tempting just to stop here and make love.

But honestly, in their human form, sand did get into the most inconvenient places, and that could chafe. Not only that, they always could make love afterward.

He was aching to resume his true form again.

"Ready?" he asked, not wanting to startle Cosmo.

"I am."

He closed his eyes and let his dragon form take him. It came on with a whoosh of magic, and he felt the rush of it, his laughter ringing off the walls and the ceiling.

Cosmo chuckled, and when Hawk opened his eyes, there was a beautiful rose dragon there with him, little and bright and shining.

Love. He nuzzled Cosmo's snout, his head at least three times the size of his mate's.

Look at you , Cosmo told him. You're huge. At least as big as Dad. Maybe bigger.

Hawk preened. Is that a good thing?

That's an amazing thing. Cosmo picked up two great paws full of sand and began scrubbing his back.

Hawk was going to die from pure, indescribable joy.

Mate and hot sand and rubbing?

And he was home, and he could hear his hoard, and life was so good that the only thing that could make it better was if they were going to have a baby.

Wait.

They had sex a lot. Like quite a lot, and he'd been here for a goodly number of months.

Surely, they'd touched on one nexus of the year or another, right? Surely, it was so.

Still, Cosmo didn't seem to be pregnant. There was no grumbling about food or strange smells or anything baby related. Not to mention, he would know if that little belly swelled, because it was a tiny little belly, especially as a dragon. He would see.

He would know.

Maybe…maybe dragon fae didn't have babies? That would be a shame.

Absolutely not a deal breaker, however.

If he had a choice between Cosmo or many babies, he would take Cosmo every single time.

He was hoping, however, that at some point the situation would be Cosmo and babies, but if not, that was all right.

He could live with that.

He'd lived without babies forever.

Perhaps one had to be older than him. Hmm. It didn't matter.

There would be babies or there wouldn't.

Right now, there was sand and rubbing.

Cosmo was exceptional at knowing exactly where each and every individual itch was. He had never had anyone go over his body scale by scale, rubbing in the sand and making sure that nothing itched.

He was going to spend the rest of eternity making this dragon unbearably happy just so they could do this again.

Cosmo was singing, the song merry and soft, just floating through the air. He didn't know the words or the song, but it didn't matter.

He knew what was underneath it.

He knew what was inside it.

Joy.