Chapter Eight

Axlin

Thankfully, Castor's meeting was over by the time I landed back at the ship and there was plenty of room for me to set down the trunks and move away enough to shift back into my human form. Castor tossed himself into my arms and I caught him. His heart thrummed in time with mine as our lips met for a hello kiss. For a moment, I thought he might strip my clothes off right there in sight of the others back in the pool. He contained himself, barely.

Casimir insisted on carrying one of the trunks inside the Medwin 2. I could've stacked them on top of each other and carried all three of them, but appreciated that he wanted to help me and Castor out. I meant it when I said we were family now that Castor and I were mates and now I had to make good on those words. We stacked the trunks in the corner of the bedroom and Casimir disappeared out of the ship again. Castor and I shared a quick snack in the kitchen before I put him back on the table to make him my next snack.

We were still in our matingmoon phase. Being away from him left an ache deep inside my chest. Even with the mating link allowing us to stay connected, any distance from him was too far away. We hit the showers and I unpacked a few things I used every day and sat them on top of my trunks.

"We can turn one of the extra bedrooms into your closet if you like," Castor offered up.

"I'm surprised you haven't," I shrugged.

"I had strict rules for what everyone could bring. The ship has a limited capacity in flight. All of them do," Castor said.

"Will this stuff affect the ship's ability to take off?" I asked, hoping I hadn't ruined his back-up escape plan. The ability to flee at a moment's notice was important to every dragon's mental health.

"Even if everyone was back on it along with Fred and his family, I think we'd be okay. We have eaten and used up a lot of supplies. So it evens out in the end. The warning light hasn't come on in the command room and before you ask, no we can't romp in there."

"Such a pity," I teased him. "A lot of my clothes are at Sprinkles. I usually take most of the clean laundry there and just leave it, so I have extra street clothes if I need them. The house is a bit of a fly away from town and the purple district is almost directly in the city's center. I'm a full timer, meaning I dance at least three days a week if I'm not on holiday. Us full timers get our own dressing rooms and attached bathrooms and tiny kitchens. Some of the others live there, but I usually fly home unless I'm working multiple days in a row. I love the pounding of the club but sometimes you have to hear yourself think."

"And what did you think about in this big ole house of yours that's a bit of a fly from the city?" Castor asked, sinking onto the edge of the bed still naked.

"Lots of stuff," I shrugged. "I don't really collect anything unless you count the stuff I use for work, but I like to read or play video games. I like to think about stuff. I don't know what I think about. You put me on the spot and my mind went blank."

Castor laughed and held out his hands to me. I crossed the room and took them. He tugged me down with him until I was flat on my back and he was laying next to me with his head resting on my chest. I liked squeezing into the tiny bed with him. It meant we had to touch as much as possible to fit properly and comfortably into the space.

"So, they really want to meet their mates, huh?" I brought up the topic of his meeting I eaves dropped on over our mating link.

"I think most alphas and omegas do, but now that they know what the stars on their chests mean they're thinking about it a lot more often. Teddy is Fred's son. His star might be from that, but I hope his other half is here too. I hate to think of him being the only one left out."

"I bet he is or she."

"He, I think anyway," Castor shrugged. "You really don't mind squeezing into the ship when you have a big house you could be at?"

"That big house has felt empty since my parents moved to Starscale 3. It was really empty today without you. You're needed here. I adore you, but I wouldn't quit my job for you and I don't expect you to do that for me either. Sure, a getaway may have been nice, but I don't think this is the right time."

Castor kissed me on the chin, and I waited for him to bring up stripping again. I heard what they'd said about stripping being a dangerous profession on Earthside. Half of me expected him to try to talk me out of it, but instead he traced circles around my nipple in silence.

"You really like that one, huh?" I teased him.

"Is the other one jealous?" he laughed, glancing up at me.

"Nah. It's closer to the star. So it can't complain."

Castor didn't say anything else for a long moment and I thought he fell asleep when his hand fell flat against my chest and he stopped toying with my nipple. Then he let out a long, slow sigh and I knew we were about to have a serious conversation. My thoughts turned to nests, children, and Earthside.

"Whatever your thoughts are chewing on, spit it out mate," I said because his thoughts weren't on our mating link at that moment.

"Do you really think the purple district folks will help us?" he asked.

I stopped myself from letting out a sigh of relief. He wasn't in a hurry to get back to Earthside. I knew that logically, but when your true-mate is from another world years away, it's hard to believe they're not desperately homesick.

"They will. We'll ask them to submit ideas or something."

"When will you go back to work?" he asked, and I tensed.

"I'm not trying to chase you off or anything. I like having you around full time."

That time I let out the sigh of relief.

"What were you worried about?" he asked.

"That you were going to ask me to quit."

"Why would I do that? Didn't I tell you when I met you sex work is work?" he sat up and frowned at me. "I'm not saying you're a callboy but it's a job. You like the job. Will I get crunchy if other dragons are touching all over you? Yes. But it's a job."

"No one touches the dancers while they're working," I said. "That's a firm boundary. Why do you think we tie people up before we hand out lap dances? That wasn't just for your entertainment."

"Good," he nodded. "That's the part I can't do. I'm not poly. I don't have the brain space for a bunch of people and don't really have any want to work on that nagging jealous streak that just popped up. They can watch you. You can dance with your dick and balls swinging in the breeze all you want. It's your body. I need fidelity, not control. There is a difference."

"I don't want to share you either," I said, sitting up too.

"Good. Then we agree."

"After some of the things I overheard earlier I worried a bit," I confessed to him.

"Okay, let's make a rule. If we overhear things or don't understand something cultural or whatever we just ask each other instead of worrying about it. We're grown men with careers. We don't need to play around like lovesick hatchlings trying to decode everything. Relationships aren't a mystery to solve. They're a partnership."

"I can agree to that rule," I nodded. "I should've just said something."

"Eh, I think it's normal to be protective over a job you like. I figure it's no different than being mated to a famous actor or singer or something like that."

"So you think I'm famous?" I smirked.

"Aren't you? Everyone seems to know your name."

"Again, you need to learn to use our flight link," I laughed and stole a kiss. "That's how they always know my name."

"It doesn't work for me," he laughed, running his hand over my cheek.

Old dragons above me. This man was going to undo me yet again. His laughter died away and we shared a long, slow kiss before falling into a tangle of limbs and dirtying up the sheets again, this time with him inside me. Maybe he wanted to prove he meant only he could touch me or maybe he just wanted me. The pleasure was the same – maybe more intense with his pleasure showering down on us like a cloudburst in a thunderstorm over our mating link.

"I'll call tomorrow morning and see what Sprinkles thinks about the plan. She hasn't met her true-mate yet either. She may schedule me a block during the busy times. Eh….."

"What?" Castor blinked.

"Maybe bring your crew and invite Elio or maybe his brother to answer questions that they may have. I don't know who knows what, but the more the merrier and maybe if Sunny gets a good look at the district he'll dip his balls in ice and chill the hell out."

"I did not need that mental image!" Castor threw his head back laughing and playfully slapped me on the chest.

"Too bad. Now it's burnt into your memory forever."

"You fucker," he laughed and kissed me hard.

"Your fucker," I said when the kiss broke.