Chapter Two

Axlin

I should've expected the interruption. He was a Moony after all. With all the blood rushing toward my dick and my flight cheering me on, I hadn't stopped to consider the fact I already knew Castor was the captain of the Medwin 2. He had to be. There was only one omega on that ship when it landed, and that omega was the captain.

"It's not just his smell that's feisty," my dragon chuckled into my thoughts right as the door opened and Castor walked in with a sigh.

I was stuck unsure of what to say as he shut the door. They might be his dragons, but no snot-nosed hatchling was going to yell at him.

"Let me have it, mate," I said instead of offering up my thoughts first.

"I can handle them. Sunny is the second born child of the Moonscale Flight. He has the attitude that much privilege brings. He's working on it. At least, his best friend is working on it."

"So, they get special privileges back where you come from? The leaders?" I asked.

"I don't want to talk about Earthside. I never liked politics because at the end of the day it wasn't politics, it was the rights of people and their hungry bellies. I like the point system here for food better. Everyone eats and you can barter for just about everything else."

"Was he a problem on the ship?" I asked.

"No," Castor shook his head. "He's protective. They're all sort of protective. I just don't put up with them acting on it. I like to think they have my back because I'm their captain."

"I think you could just about kick my ass if we fought," I said, raking my eyes up and down him. "I'm always working out, but you have that look about you that you'd devour someone in the pit."

He opened his mouth and shut it again.

"The pit?" Castor asked, running his fingers through his brown hair.

"Oh! Shit! You haven't been to 2, have you?"

"Haven't been anywhere outside of town yet. There's been a lot to do," Castor sighed.

"On Starscale 2 there's this arena where anyone can sign up for a random fight. There really isn't a reward. Just bragging rights for those who enjoy that sort of thing."

"Do you?" he asked me.

"I've been to watch a few times. Not really my scene. I'm a stripper not a gladiator and I like it that way," I shrugged. "Go ahead and give it to me about that too."

"Sex work is work," Castor said, and I blinked at him.

"I don't sleep with people for money, mate," I laughed. "If they jack off to the show that has nothing to do with me and more a kink of liking to have people around to watch them rub one out."

"I don't know that I'll go to many shows," Castor admitted, "but that doesn't mean I'm going to barge into your life and yell at you to put some clothes on at work. That would make me a hypocrite, but that brings me back to what I said earlier. Don't threaten my dragons. Not today or tomorrow or ever. They're not a threat to anything except my ego. They're good guys and they're good at their jobs too. They have my back. You saw that. Security and you assumed they were here to start trouble because they're from my birth flight and that's shitty of all of you."

"I assumed they were here to start shit over the ship's omega."

"What do you think we're doing on my ship?" Castor asked, narrowing his eyes on me.

"I didn't mean it like that. We would've heard if you were dating one or more of them. Sometimes fights start over omegas who other alphas want to protect. They did barrel roll right through security, mate."

"To get to their captain. I'm telling you now. If it's important they have every right to do that no matter where I am."

I turned that piece of information around inside my head. It didn't sound like a pleasant way to live. That was a hurdle that would take some getting used to.

"You have heard of boundaries before, right?" I asked him.

"That's the boundary. If it's important they come to me. If they have reason to believe I'm in danger they come to me. If I have reason to believe they're in danger, I'll go to them."

I refrained from asking if they were the sort of dragons who understood what was really important enough to interrupt a mating moon.

"Tonight, I get. Though, why did you send out a distress signal to your flight?"

"I couldn't smell you," Castor said, stepping closer to me. "I didn't know what was going on. Yeah, yeah. Learn the ways you guys communicate over your flight link. I try not to listen in too hard to it. I feel like an intruder."

"You're my mate. That makes you part of the flight," I told him, running my finger along his jawline.

"And you're a Moonscale too now," I said. "Well, once we exchange the claiming vows, you will be."

"Too bad you guys don't have those crescents on your foreheads anymore. I bet the folks downstairs would eat that the fuck up," I smirked.

"I'm glad you enjoy your job," Castor said, his lips hanging parted when he finished speaking.

"Do you?"

"I enjoyed what I saw of it," Castor teased avoiding the question until I forced myself not to smile at him like a lovesick hatchling.

"I do enjoy my job. I love it. The ship, the travel, the crew. They're all great. We just got the Medwin 2 cleared for flights between the planets. Though, it's anchored down now to be a house. If we need to fly around, we can without stirring up trouble."

"What was the mission you guys were talking about out there?" I asked him, wrapping an arm around his waist.

He let me pull him in against my body. He was warm even through his clothes and thankfully just as smitten as I was. Castor didn't lecture me for eavesdropping.

"You don't know about the project?" he asked me.

"What project?" I blinked.

"Are you in the dark or lost in my eyes?"

"Can't I be both, mate?" I asked and stole a kiss.

I could've kissed Castor forever. His lips were soft and plump. He surrendered under my kisses despite his feisty scent. His fingers dug into my shoulders as our tongues lapped at each other between our open mouths. He tasted sweet and salty all at once. My mate really was the best of all worlds.

"Now, I forgot," Castor laughed when the kiss broke.

He leaned his forehead against my collarbone, and I kissed the top of his head while he gathered his thoughts back up.

"Let's sit down, huh?" I pulled away from him to move some of my costumes off the sofa.

I led him to sit down and settled in right next to him. Not touching him was self-inflicted torture. I wasn't that sort of masochist. So I couldn't resist putting my hand on his knee even if that meant his thoughts stayed jumbled up like scribbles on a page.

"You were telling me about your mission. No, I really don't know what the three of you were talking about. Leadership affairs aren't my job. I don't pay attention unless they change something big and that doesn't happen often. Our systems work. So nothing gets changed that often."

"You know about why we came, right?"

"Something about Hush's nephew remembering something from a past life and summoning his true-mate or at least sending out an invite. No one knows how he did it, but the fucker did and I should fucking hunt him down a whole fucking deer herd for doing that."

"I don't think Elio wants a deer herd," I laughed. "He did it with a spell that once belonged to elves in the Other World."

"The place where dead guys go?" I asked him.

"Yes and no. It's so much more than that. Sure, the dead go there between lives, but some people live there too. It's complicated. The Other World is whatever it wants to be. Anyway, there are these gateways all over Earthside and some other planets too. They connect us all, but not the three Starscale worlds. I think that's because they were dragon built and not naturally occurring, but Elio wants to change that. He wants to set up gateways here so more Starscale dragons meet their true-mates."

"I'll sign if there's a petition or something going around," I shrugged.

"It's not that simple. We have to figure out how to do that," Castor sighed.

"How did Elio toss messages through those gateways if we don't have them?" I asked.

His job was a lot more interesting than I thought it was.

"Your flight used to steal what they needed from Earthside and other worlds. Somewhere along the way the elven spell was stolen. Elio found it in his uncle's stuff and Hush didn't care what he did with it," Castor explained.

"Sounds like Hush. It wasn't his spell. It wouldn't hurt any of us. So he let him have a go at it. What do you need to open these things up?"

"Right now? Ideas and we don't know how to go about getting the word out."

"When I come off leave for our matingmoon, I'll get it out. Believe me, they'll hear me out just to get me naked," I teased. "I'm laughing, but Sprinkles may not be the worst place to look for help. It's usually the really brainy types that are into open love and sex. It's a break from their normal lives and a place to let their minds wander while they're bodies find the release all of us really need."

Castor was hard now, and his dick pressed up against his clothes. He smelled slick and scrumptious. I could've taken him right there on the sofa. Dressing rooms at Sprinkles were homes away from home for all its performers. Some nights I slept on the sofa we now sat on.

"Are you about to ask the age old question?" Castor smirked.

"Top or bottom?" I teased.

"Vers, but no, that wasn't the question."

"I think most dragons I know are verse," I shrugged. "What did you think I was going to ask?"

"My place or yours."

"Mine is empty. I live alone. My parents are alive, but they moved to Starscale 3 to retire. Starscale 1 is all about food and sex, more or less. Sure, a lot of families live here, but we have the only purple district. Starscale 2 is food and fighting. They have the arena and stuff. Starscale 3 is the newest world and seems to attract the sort who are either done with romping here or fighting or at least want a nice long break from it."

"Elio and Marsin's parents moved there too," Castor nodded. "My ship only has my cousin living there. We could matingmoon there if you wanted."

"Will that be easier for you?" I asked.

"Easier in which way?" he returned my question.

"So you can keep an eye on your dragons."

Castor thought about it for a long, silent moment. I breathed in trying not to think about how delicious he smelled. I squeezed his knee.

"Would you be mad if we went back to the Medwin 2 before we went to your place?" he finally asked.

"Not at all," I shook my head. "It's harder to take leave from some jobs than others. We can even stay the night there if you need to or just want to. Get them in order. Pack an overnight bag."

"Just an overnight bag," Castor said.

"I guess when everything is said and done, I'll be living on a spaceship, huh?" I laughed.

"Unfortunately, if you want to live with me, yes."

"The house will be there for our kids if they want it," I shrugged. "Not like it's going to fall over without me there all the time."

"You're way too relaxed about all this," Castor laughed and flopped onto his back on the sofa.

I picked up his feet one at a time and took off his shoes and socks. Sure, we might be leaving soon, but my mate desperately needed to relax first. I turned to face him with his feet resting on my thigh. I picked one up and massaged my thumbs into his arches the way I liked the masseuse to do after a long night of dancing. He let out a little moan and I glanced at his still hard crotch.

"Let me see your star," I said, still massaging his foot.

Castor pulled up his shirt until the star-shaped scale on his chest showed. It was as black and glowy as mine from our true-mate response. I wanted to lick the magic off it, but held back as I switched to massaging his other foot.

"We match," Castor said, his words a soft mumble of pleasure. "I could get used to this."

"I hope so because I don't know that I'll ever be able to stop touching you, mate."

"Come here," he beckoned me to him with the wave of a single finger.

I stretched out over top of him and he leaned up to kiss me. For a second, I couldn't breathe. How had I gotten so fucking lucky? How had either of us? Maybe it wasn't luck. Maybe it was fate or his grit to build and fly his ship all the way here.

I kissed down his neck and nuzzled my cheek against his black star. I kissed it and licked around its edges tasting the magic that connected us throughout lifetimes. He tasted like perfection as he ran his fingers through my hair. I kissed lower.

"What are you doing?" he asked, still playing with my hair.

"I can't let the captain go back to his crew all hard, hot, and bothered," I smirked at him. "So my plan is to suck you dry and then take you home."

He blushed and I loved it. It lit up every cave-dragon part of me to see my mate hot and bothered and not just a little flustered over me. When Castor didn't object to my plan, I kissed lower and lower, savoring the soft skin covering his lean muscular torso. I undid his fly and pulled his pants and boxer briefs down low enough to free his cock and balls from their fabric prison as I swirled my tongue around the slight indentation of his navel. His fingers tightened in my hair reminding me that later we'd have so much to talk about but for now my mouth was going to be busy on another mission.

I nuzzled his hard, throbbing cock against my cheek. He was all fluster and need, and the smell of his sweet and tangy arousal covered my dressing room overcoming the pheromone blocking mister hidden under the sofa. Some things not even magic could stop. He thrust up against my cheek needy as hell and I loved it. Loved every bit of everything since I met him – from the stage to his crazy ass dragons to him rubbing off against my face.

I took his dick in my hand and gave him a few promising strokes before placing a firm hello kiss on the hard, mushroom-shaped head of his dick. I licked it over and over until his hips thrust up and his scent turned from needy to desperate. He writhed, squeezing his eyes shut as if the overhead light and the pleasure radiating through him was too much for him to stand. Then and only then did I slip my mouth over him. My horns itched at my head. My dragon wanted out or at least to the dragon who dwelled within Castor. They wouldn't connect fully until we exchanged our claiming vows. That could happen now, but Castor had pressing matters to tend to.

I slid my mouth down over him. His shaft was smooth and sweet, pressing against my tongue. Breathing out of my nose I found my rhythm over him, taking my time to draw the pleasure from deep within him. Both of his hands were in my hair now, tugging, as he writhed under me. Everyone said pleasure from your true-mate was unlike anything you could experience with anyone else and since my cock was twitching from just sucking on him I was starting to believe that was more fact than myth. Some secret that only those who met their true-mates knew to be a holy, sacred truth.

I ground hard against the sofa. My body fell into the familiar movement that usually I reserved for the dance floor. The softness beneath me sent a fresh spiral of pleasure wrapping around my cock. I grabbed a towel from the floor and shoved it under me. The cleaners wouldn't appreciate me leaving that sort of mess on the sofa and Castor didn't have a change of clothes either if I messed them up. I pushed his shirt up higher to protect it just in case any of his pleasure escaped my mouth.

His fingers dug into my scalp and he guided my face hard and fast over him. I surrendered and let him guide himself into my mouth over and over as he thrust under me. It was hard not to smirk from how badly he wanted me and how much pleasure oozed off his scent. He came on my tongue in warm, sticky bursts and I swallowed his pleasure down as my cock twitched again.

"Axlin," my name tumbled off his lips and that alone sent me over the edge.

I gripped his hips, his dick softening in my mouth as I came into the towel, my whole body shuddering from being so near him. We panted for air, and I nuzzled his belly. Mine. He was mine. He was mine before and now he came back to me. I kissed his navel before he grabbed my hand and tugged me up for a real kiss.

"I've never had a man come while sucking my dick."

"That's because you've never had me suck your dick, sweetheart," I smirked because I couldn't help myself.

Castor rewarded my cocky cave-dragon nature with another long, hard kiss. Then he slapped my ass to prove he was still feisty.