12. How To Accidentally Breed A Criminal

Blade raised an eyebrow,surprised by the random question. "Arrest you?"

Joey's pulse quickened as though he was nervous.

He'd been nervous before. When he'd let slip that he had a secret and refused to tell Blade what it was.

Was the secret... something Blade could arrest him for?

Damn it.

"Joey..." Blade massaged Joey's nape. "Is there something I should know?"

Joey's breath hitched. His gaze slid away and he shook his head quickly, but his pulse was still the slightest bit erratic.

Blade's heart sank.

Joey had committed a crime, hadn't he?

And Blade had just deposited a full load of cum in his ass.

Fuck.

"Joey." Blade rubbed Joey's back, his own heart skipping nervously. Was this something he could help with, or would it drive a wedge between them so deep that Joey would never look him in the eye again? "What did you do?"

Joey hunched his shoulders. "Are you going to kick me out?"

Blade opened his mouth and hesitated. He was an officer of the law. He had several police officers working under him, and he'd get in trouble for harboring a criminal if anyone found out.

But he was also painfully aware that sometimes, things weren't completely black or white.

"Why don't you tell me what you've done, and why, and we'll go from there?"

Joey huddled into a lump on Blade's chest, the scent of fear spiking around him.

Blade's instincts surged, needing to soothe him.

"Joey," he growled. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You're gonna arrest me!"

"I won't, okay? I promise." The words fell out of Blade's mouth before he could think. Fuck. "I need to know if it's related to those scumbags chasing you down in Ess-Mart. And the other time, too. The people who showed up at your apartment."

Joey flinched. He turned his head so he could open one eye, watching Blade warily. "If it is?"

If those things were all related, then Joey's secret was Katie.

There weren't many baby-related crimes that would warrant an arrest.

Blade swallowed. He cradled Joey's face in his hands and turned him so their gazes met fully. "I need to know what we're up against. How did she come to be in your possession?"

Another flinch. Joey tightened his fingers in Blade's sleeves, looking down. "I happened to see them in a parking lot just outside town one night," he mumbled. "Not here. Three states over. There were six men between two cars, and Katie was in the middle of them, on the ground.

"She was wailing. No one wanted to touch her. Then one of them kicked her, and she was just—I couldn't even see her in the bundle, Blade, she was so small! She was so scared and they didn't care. They just wanted her to stop crying. But they wouldn't even pick her up to hold her."

Blade's heart pounded with a mix of fury and dread. The picture Joey painted... That was all kinds of fucked up.

He swallowed dryly and tightened his arms around Joey. "What happened after you saw them?"

Joey's breath hitched. He ducked his head and pressed closer. "I knew they weren't gonna stay long. She didn't belong to them. So they were probably going to take her somewhere.

"I hid behind a dumpster and waited until they'd spread out somewhat. She was still on the ground. Still crying.

"I don't know if you know, but I can move through solid objects. Like walls. I call it phasing. So I phased into the ground and got under one of the cars. Then I waited until their backs were turned, before I snatched her and ran."

Blade's stomach clenched. Joey was many things, but he wasn't fast. "They saw you?"

Joey grimaced. "Yeah. She was wailing when I picked her up. It's hard for them not to hear her, you know? But I got a head start ‘cuz I surprised them. I managed to run and duck into a building."

"Did she stop crying?"

"She took a while to stop." Joey cringed. "I thought they were gonna find us. We were in some offices that were shut down for the night, so it was all empty. But I knew they could hear us and track us down. So I moved from room to room and rocked her until she calmed down, then I got us out of there."

"You escaped six of them?" Blade asked, impressed.

Joey lowered his gaze and shrugged. "We could because we disappeared from sight. They could hear us, but they couldn't get into the building without some serious damage. Then they started smashing walls, and I was terrified."

It had to be difficult, when your abilities only allowed you to run as a defense.

"They didn't follow you?" Blade asked.

Joey winced. "I knew we'd leave a scent trail if we just popped out on the other side of the building. So we moved underground for a while. It was hard. Katie was freaking out—we can't breathe when we're in the shadow phase. But it's either we surface and get caught, or we travel underground and not breathe." Joey sighed heavily. "I couldn't let them discover that we could move through things, or they'd know how to find us."

Blade thought about trying to transport a tiny, panicking child underground, and his chest squeezed in sympathy.

"I wish I'd been there to help," he murmured, rubbing Joey's back.

Joey shook his head. "No. Running was the best option. Six is too many, considering you don't know their abilities."

He had a point. Dragons were formidable, but not without their weaknesses.

"What happened after you got away?"

"It took us a while to get far enough," Joey admitted. "They started spreading out when they realized they'd lost us. I managed to get back to my apartment and pack all the important stuff. I grabbed all my cash. Then I got a cab to take us to the next town over. I think my landlord probably threw out all my things; it's been three months."

He'd been on the run for three months. And he'd probably lost everything he couldn't take with him. Blade's heart sank further.

"Did you stay long in that next town?"

Joey made a face. "I was going to wait there until things blew over, but I saw one of Katie's kidnappers while we were in a grocery store. I phased us out of there so fast. We hitchhiked all the way here."

"You stood by the roadside with your thumb out?" Blade clarified.

Joey huffed, a tiny smile tugging on his lips. "No, we sneaked into delivery trucks and switched at rest stops. Or when Katie cried and I had to jump out before the driver came to investigate. But sometimes we got food from those trucks. It helped."

He was so brave. So much braver than Blade had initially thought.

"You got an apartment when you arrived at Cartfalls," Blade murmured.

Joey sighed. "I really wanted a proper bed to sleep in. Hotels are expensive. And I didn't have any friends when I first got here. I saw an ad in a shop window and called the number. By the time Katie's kidnappers caught up with us again, I was almost out of cash. Wasn't sure if we could make rent for another month. I can't get a job because Katie keeps setting things on fire."

Then he'd been rescued and put in the safe house, and now here he was, with Blade.

Blade held him tight. "You're safe now."

Joey blew out a shuddering breath, lifting his gaze to Blade's. "Am I?"

"Yeah. You're under my protection."

"You won't arrest me?"

"No."

Joey watched him for a long moment. Then he sank back against Blade's chest, and began to cry.

Some time later,when Joey's sniffling had tapered off, Blade nuzzled his hair. "Feel better?"

Joey nodded, scrubbing his hands over his red eyes. Then he winced. "I got snot all over your uniform."

"It's fine. It's just snot."

"But I'm not supposed to get snot on you," Joey protested. "It's gross!"

Blade raised an eyebrow. "You've already covered me in panties."

Joey groaned and buried his face in Blade's shoulder.

"Besides," Blade said lightly. "Snot isn't all you got on me."

Joey eyed Blade's uniform with a wince. "And... And tears? And drool?"

"Well, those too. I don't mind."

"Really?" Joey asked, incredulous.

Blade shrugged. "Do I look mad?"

"Well... no. But you could be secretly pissed!"

Blade watched him patiently. Joey watched him back. Then the tension melted out of Joey's shoulders, and he sagged.

"You really don't mind that I was crying all over you."

A smile tugged at Blade's lips. "A brave man like you? I'm honored to receive your bodily fluids."

"You're kidding," Joey said disbelievingly.

"You've been protecting Katie all by yourself for months, Joey. Keeping her safe from people who mean her harm. That's difficult."

Joey sighed. "It is."

"Not everyone can do that." Blade rubbed Joey's side. "I don't know if I'd be hanging in there like you, if all I had was the ability to step through walls."

"You make me sound stronger than I am."

"You are strong." Blade leaned in, nuzzling Joey's hair. He breathed in Joey's morning dew scent like he'd wanted to for days, stroking Joey's sides, his hips and thighs, admiring the strength in his thin limbs. "I'll prove to you just how worthy a mate you are."

Joey's eyebrows crawled up uncertainly. "O-okay."

His self-confidence wasn't something that could be fixed with a few words, or in a few days. It would take time.

They had time.

"Although snot and tears aren't the only thing you got on me," Blade said lightly.

Joey frowned. "They're not?"

"Sit up."

Joey sat up and looked between them. Blade helped him shuffle backward; as he did so, Blade's cock slipped out of him.

There'd been the slow leak of fluid before; Blade had felt it soak through his uniform and all over his skin. But now, without his cock plugging Joey up, his cum flowed out of Joey in a steady stream, pooling across Blade's hips and trickling down his inner thighs.

"Oh, gods!" Joey hid his face in his hands. "You do your own laundry, right?"

Blade coughed lightly. "My housekeeper does them."

Joey made a strangled sound. He lunged for the tissue box on the nightstand—giving Blade an eyeful of his cum-covered ass—and returned with a fistful of tissues to scrub at the navy-blue fabric.

It ended up smearing everywhere.

Blade bit down his smile. "Joey."

"It's going away!" Joey scrubbed frantically.

"Joey."

"It is! Look!"

He was getting cum on places where there hadn't been any before. Blade grinned and caught Joey's hand, making him look up. "It doesn't matter. It's not the first time my cum ended up in the laundry."

Joey's flush deepened. "But it's on your uniform."

"It means I was wearing my uniform when we fucked. That's not wrong."

"It's not?"

Blade grinned. "What I do in the privacy of my own home is no one's business. And I don't plan on stopping. We're going to get cum on a lot more things."

Joey covered his face and rocked back and forth, but his cock twitched.

"Do you not want more sex?"

"I want!" Joey near-shouted, then blushed.

He was adorable. Blade moved to sit up against the headboard, rubbing Joey's nape. "Good. My housekeeper, Steph, will deal with it."

"I thought you'd say, ‘She'll suck it up.'" Joey cringed. "Ew."

"Let's not go there," Blade said dryly. "We do have something else to discuss, though."

Joey looked up. "Like what?"

Blade glanced at the drying cum. "I don't suppose you were on birth control."

Those whiskey-gold eyes widened comically. "Oh, gods!"

It made Blade's instincts press up under his skin, completely satisfied. "You had my cum inside you for a long time. It's... possible that it's already taken."

Joey sucked in several breaths, looking down at his still-flat belly. "Oh, gods."

"Are you okay with a pregnancy?" Blade hesitated. "If you don't want to carry a child to term..."

Joey covered his belly with his hand. "I'm okay with it," he said softly.

Blade burned with the urge to kiss him. This was happening fast; they'd only known each other for a few days. He suppressed the urge, pulling Joey into his arms to embrace him warmly.

Soon, Joey's belly would grow round with their child, their baby kicking in there. At some point, Joey would birth their baby, and Blade would get to hold his very own dragonet in his arms.

Joey squirmed, his gaze shadowed. "But... what about Katie?"

Blade froze. He breathed in, and out. He studied Joey's face carefully.

Joey wanted to keep her.

There was no way this would not hurt.

"Imagine our child born into the world," Blade said slowly, trailing his knuckles over Joey's belly. "There's a place in our lives and hearts for him or her or them. And one day, someone took them away."

Joey flinched. Quietly, he mumbled, "I know where you're going with this."

"We'd search high and low for this child," Blade continued. "I don't think we'd stop trying no matter how long it takes."

Joey bit his lip. "She took so long to trust me, you know. After I rescued her. She thought I was going to hurt her like her kidnappers did. I spent hours and hours just holding her and trying to teach her that she was safe."

Blade ached for him. "Her parents might still be out there, looking for her."

Joey's face fell. He tucked his head under Blade's chin, and huddled close.

"I know," Joey said, almost inaudibly. "I just... She's mine, too."

Blade hugged him tight. "The right thing to do is to return her, Joey."

"But..." Joey's shoulders sagged.

"The only thing we don't know, is whether she has any living relatives," Blade said gently. "It's not easy to steal a baby from a dragon, either."

Joey inhaled. "Does it make me a bad person if..."

"You're human." Blade dropped a kiss on his head. "I'll give you however many babies you want, all right? But we have to do right by Katie."

Joey sniffled. He hid his face in Blade's shoulder and trembled; Blade held him as he cried.

"You can be strong," Blade murmured. "I know you can."

"I don't want to be."

Blade dropped a kiss on Joey's temple. He kissed Joey's forehead, too. He hugged Joey for a long time, until Joey sucked in a shuddering breath and sat up, wiping his eyes.

"I'll return her." Joey's voice cracked.

"I'll give you as many babies as you want," Blade said again.

"But they won't be Katie!"

"I know." Blade wrapped his arms tight around Joey. "I know."

Joey remained stiff for a few more seconds. Then he melted against Blade's chest, and Blade hated that he had to be the one to cause Joey so much pain.

"I'm sorry," Blade murmured. "Sometimes it hurts to do what's right."

Joey didn't say anything for a long time. Blade brushed his fingers through Joey's hair. He got them off the bed and to the bathroom, turning on the shower.

When the water was warm, he stepped in with his arm around Joey.

"You're still wearing your uniform," Joey mumbled.

"It's fine."

Joey wrinkled his nose, looking down. "But the cum... It's gonna get wet. Your housekeeper has to touch that."

"I'll tell her to use gloves."

Blade nuzzled Joey again, turning Joey's back toward the warm spray. He sat them down on the shower bench and grabbed some shampoo, working that into Joey's hair.

Gently, he scrubbed the rest of Joey's body with a washcloth—his face, his chest, his back, his arms and legs. He set aside the cloth and used his fingers for Joey's sensitive parts, his instincts rumbling when Joey trembled against him.

By the end of the shower, when Blade stood Joey on his feet and toweled him dry, Joey seemed calmer, steadier.

Joey straightened his shoulders. "I'll help find Katie's parents."

Blade's heart slipped. "Are you sure?"

Joey looked him in the eye and nodded.

Blade gave in to his urge. He cradled Joey's face and tipped it up, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

Joey gasped but didn't pull away. His lips were velvety-soft, parting easily when Blade dragged their mouths together, tingles dancing through his skin.

Blade hadn't thought they'd get here so soon.

At Ess-Mart, he'd initiated things with Joey thinking this would be a quick fling. He'd told himself he'd make things good for Joey, because Joey seemed interested, and because Joey seemed like such a sweet, scared person.

Then they'd started talking on the phone, and now he had a full load inside Joey; he'd gotten his scent all over this man.

Blade had begun to think of Joey as someone he could have in his life.

He knew Joey better now. Joey was sweet and clumsy, but also so strong. He'd sacrificed so much to keep Katie safe. He loved Katie enough to put her best interests before his own.

Blade wanted Joey to be his mate; he knew with absolute certainty that Joey was the perfect mate.

"Anything you desire, I will provide," Blade murmured against his lips. "Anything you fear, tell me, and I will make sure it will never threaten you."

Joey whimpered against him. "Why're you saying all this?"

"Because you are precious," Blade whispered. "Just as crucial to a dragon's hoard as a baby is, maybe even more so."

Joey blushed. "I'm just me."

"No, you're not," Blade growled. "Don't ever think you're replaceable or less important. You're not."

Joey blinked uncertainly at him. This convincing was going to take a while.

So Blade pressed another kiss to his lips, and continued to dry him off.

"You're all wet," Joey mumbled.

"I'll deal with it."

"You didn't even wash yourself."

Blade raised an eyebrow, pausing. "Are you volunteering to wash me?"

Joey sucked in a slow breath; his pulse fluttered. "Y-yes. But also, um. Can I... wash your dragon?"

A slow smile crept onto Blade's lips. "You make that sound indecent."

"I didn't," Joey squawked.

"I want you to give me an indecent washing." Blade grinned. "You'll get to put your hand in my... cock pocket."

"What is a cock pocket?" Joey spluttered.

"You'll see." Blade continued to dry Joey; Joey's expression scrunched up further.

In the end, Blade sighed and gave up on the toweling, dragging Joey back into the shower. "Here. Wash me."

Joey's mouth opened into a pretty ‘o'. He dragged his gaze down Blade's soaked uniform, his cheeks turning pink. "W-wash you?"

"I've touched every inch of you, Joey. It's only fair that you touch any part of me you want." Blade caught Joey's hand and turned it to expose his wrist, placing a soft, wet kiss there. Joey shivered. "Take off my clothes. I want you to wash me. Every inch."