12. Glenwise

Chapter 12

Glenwise

I saw Silvia spot the painting she'd gifted to the Hoskins clan, in pride of place above the fireplace. Whether it would stay there or not, I didn't know. That wasn't the point. The point was that they'd put it there tonight, and it was a kind gesture. She blinked as she looked at it, and I was sure if I'd been able to scent her, I'd have smelled surprised joy.

I was happy for her. It was time somebody recognised her talent and she got the appreciation she deserved for her art.

Rhod had spotted it, too, and I could smell his pride and happiness.

I breathed in again .

Rhod's scent was a complex mixture of emotions this evening. He had only left the Somerville territory once before, and that had been to come here, actually, when Morgan had first come to stay. I'd been left at the Somerville castle with Alfie and Glimmer. He never said it, but I suspected the old Lord Somerville had left me rather than Rhod or Conley because he'd known I was much better able to protect Alfie, if it came to it.

I'd hated seeing Rhod leave without me. Even before I'd known he was my mate, my dragon had not been happy that he'd been going away from me, especially into another clan's territory. It had growled at me all day until I had a pounding headache. I'd been so relieved when they all got home safely that I'd actually stopped by Rhod's office just to see him in person and hear his voice. I'd known my dragon wouldn't settle until I did.

I couldn't remember now what flimsy excuse I'd used, but I'd been surprised Rhod hadn't called me on it. Now I knew better: he'd never have called me on any terrible excuse, as long as it meant he got to see me. We were both as desperate as each other to be close, and my dragon had reached out its magic to calm his heartbeat, which had been fast and worried.

Now, even though it was almost a year on, Rhod wasn't entirely comfortable here, in the Hoskins territory. It was annoying me that I couldn't work out why.

Georgie, the Hoskins medic, approached me with a smile.

"Ah, there you are, Dr. Somerville. I've been hoping to talk to you. Your mate said you trained with sprites, is that right?"

"Of course. If Rhod said it, it's correct."

She looked startled and then shrugged, flipping her bright green hair from one side to the other. "He said you're working in a shifter hospital. I was hoping to ask you a few questions."

I glanced over at Rhod, who was talking to an older curaidh woman, and wondered what he was up to. I was happy to talk to Georgie about medicine, if she wanted. It took me far longer than perhaps it should have for me to realise what Rhod had been arranging. Georgie wanted some real-life experience in a hospital, and – like our own clan – their elder was reluctant to send her out just anywhere. A single dragon needed to stay in very specific, protected areas if they wanted to be safe. Rhod had sent her to me, assuming I'd invite her to stay with us and Heather.

That made sense, of course. Georgie wanted some hands-on experience and Heather was always delighted to get more qualified doctors to treat the patients in her surgery. We had been getting through the waiting list, but it was slow going. There were just more patients than there were doctors.

I arranged an online interview with Heather for the next day so that Georgie could travel to the territory with me and Rhod, if Heather agreed to take her on.

She could travel with me, Rhod, Glimmer and Kingsley, I should say. Glimmer had insisted on seeing the mage's territory and I admit my dragon was much, much happier with the idea of staying there if it had a few of Glimmer's protections around it. It was the one thing I couldn't do for my mate, since I couldn't work those kinds of protections. Having Rhod safe on the farm was going to go a long way to making me truly content.

I'd been parted from him for long enough. I said goodbye to Georgie and walked over to Rhod's side. The first thing I noticed was the slightly stressed tang to his scent.

He didn't lean into me, which surprised me as I waited for it to happen and then realised it wouldn't. He didn't do that in public. He held himself upright and stiff, looking very put-together. Just like the old Lord Somerville had liked.

Well, I wasn't going to not touch at all. I slid my arm around his waist and held him just tightly enough to remind him that I was there.

Rhod promised to arrange several meetings with Jill, Milton and Dane. He explained to Cuthbert about the clan records, the storage rooms and converting everything to digital records. He agreed to look out some unique texts for Anthony, whose eyes lit up in a way that made my dragon want to push between him and my mate to protect him from all that knowledge-hungry keenness.

When I got rid of Anthony, Rhod said quietly, "Your father's getting on well with John, the elder's mate. They've been drinking port and they're a bit sozzled. Do you want to do something about it?"

And that was when I realised: my mate wasn't relaxing at all. He was working .

I had forgotten what it was like to be around so many people. I'd forgotten the energy that coursed through me when I was needed, when I had challenges to fill my day instead of endless theoretical research and re-organising my stock of medical supplies yet again.

Now that I'd rediscovered the feeling, I didn't think I'd be able to go back to simply sitting all day in the medical room of the Somerville castle with nothing to do.

I was thriving on the bustle of my new territory, the pace of the surgery and the constant queue of people who needed my expertise.

It was the same here, in the Hoskins' castle, filled with people, bustling and talking and getting on with their day, always around, always noisy.

My mate, though, struggled with it.

He got on with people far better than I could, being much more polite, much more patient, much kinder. Maybe that was why people drained him so much faster than they drained me. He gave them too much. I gave them my attention and my expertise, whereas Rhod gave them his empathy.

As much as I wanted to stay and talk to these new people, to pick apart their histories and their expertise and absorb all the knowledge I could from them, I could feel Rhod getting more and more drained by the minute.

I decided to act.

Nobody – nobody in the world – was more important to me than Rhod.

His needs came first, always.

"We're leaving," I said.

Rhod looked at me in surprise. "I don't mind staying a while longer."

I was already steering him out of the room. As I left, I caught Silvia's eye and she gave me a slight nod. Just that one look between us and I'd known I was doing the right thing. She had seen his energy start to flag, too, even if nobody else would notice.

I led him out of the room and back to our guest room. I was more than happy to ignore the dark looks I got from a few others who thought I was being heavy-handed.

Maybe I was. But Rhod needed me that way.

I knew he did because he leaned against me the moment the door shut behind us.

As my arms wrapped around him, I smiled into his hair. Holding Rhod close never got old. His body was so perfectly moulded to mine.

I leaned my head down and traced my lips over the claiming bite on his neck. My dragon loved to see it there, loved to touch it and feel the satisfaction that we'd marked our mate. Everyone knew he was ours. He knew.

Already, his scent was changing to contentment. It constantly amazed me that he didn't just put up with my possessiveness, he actually revelled in it.

I gave serious consideration to stripping my mate down and taking him there against the door, but that had not been my plan.

"Get undressed," I said. "We're going flying."

My beautiful mate didn't even ask where we were going. He trusted me. He just obeyed, and my cock hardened as I watched him do what I told him, stripping off his clothes to reveal his smooth, pale skin to me. His perfectly-proportioned body was slim and delicate, and my hands were roaming over his chest before I realised I was going to touch.

As always, Rhod melted against me, his body becoming pliant under my ministrations. He would have let me do anything to him. Anything I wanted .

Damn, my mate was so sexy. Nobody in the world could turn me on as much as Rhod. He was the epitome of sex.

It was harder than I liked to admit to pull away from him and take my hands off his body. His skin had warmed up under my touch as he became aroused and his dick was sticking up, looking so pretty and pink and suckable.

For the second time, I gave serious consideration to abandoning my plan and blowing Rhod right there against the door, making him come with my mouth on his dick and my fingers in his ass. Probably the only reason I didn't was that I didn't have any lube within reach and, if I was going to have to take my hands off him to find it, I might as well go through with my original plan.

"Come on. We're leaving via the window."

His eyes were slightly glazed and his soft lips were parted. He gave a little nod and followed me like a lamb over to the window. He could easily have jumped up onto the windowsill by himself and pulled himself through the window, since he had a dragon's strength. He didn't, though. He let me help him .

In fact, he turned to me as though he expected me to do it, and my stomach tightened with desire when he did that.

As soon as Rhod was outside, I followed, grabbing the bag I wanted as I went.

"Follow me closely, my love."

I shifted and launched myself into the night, flying straight for the large moon that cast a silvery glow upon everything. Behind me, I heard Rhod follow and I didn't look round. I knew he'd obey me.

It didn't take long to reach the beach. I'd already asked permission to visit and I knew we'd have the place to ourselves for the night while the rest of the family and the Hoskins clan mingled at the party.

Rhod landed beside me and the only indication that this was his first time at a beach was his slight stumble as he landed. His feet sank into the sand, deeper than he was expecting, and I shot forward to catch him, if he fell.

We shifted back and I got to see his face in the light of the moon. It made his skin shine almost the same silver colour as his scales, and he was stunningly beautiful. My hands were on him again and I pulled him close to me .

His head craned round to watch the sea.

"Is it as you imagined it, my love?"

"It's… better."

After a while, I left Rhod to stand and watch the ocean for the first time while I unpacked the bag I'd brought with me. The towel was large and weighted in the corners so it should stay in place. I drew him down onto it so we were sitting together, him nestled between my legs with his back to my chest. My dick rested between his cheeks and I tried to compose myself and not rush this. We had all night, I didn't need to ravish him right now, not while he was enjoying the new sights and smells of the beach.

"Even my mum couldn't capture this with her painting," he said at last. "The way it feels. To be here, with you."

I pressed a little kiss to his temple. "It doesn't need to be captured, my love. We can do it again and again."

He sighed happily and rested back against me, letting me take his full weight. I held him close and breathed in his scent, having to press my nose right against his neck to get it without the taint of the salty air around us. Rhod found the beach beautiful, as I knew he would, but I was more interested in him than the view.

After a while, I slid my hand from his stomach up to his chest, trailing my fingers over his smooth skin. I was constantly amazed by the feel of him, and it never got old.

When I ran my finger over his nipple, he barely reacted, and so I did it again. Soon, I was circling them and teasing them, keeping my attention purely on his nipples while he looked out across the ocean.

His scent became muskier with arousal and I gradually began to do more. I kissed his neck, across my mating bite, and then sucked gently on the lobe of his ear. The tang of his pre-come mixed with the scents around us and I smiled to myself.

Slowly, I slid my hand down, down over his stomach to his groin. My fingers skimmed lightly over the length of his hard dick and circled the head, coming away with sticky liquid on them which I brought up to my mouth to taste.

Rhod gave the slightest groan and his hips bucked against me.

"Hush, my love. Let me take care of you. "

Rhod's hips bucked again and he breathed out, "God yes, please."

He asked so nicely. So sweetly. Who could refuse him anything he wanted?

I teased him for a few more moments, letting the scent of his arousal surround me until my dragon was rumbling in my head with a combination of satisfaction and desire. Rhod smelled like he was ours, covered in our scent and with our mark on his neck for all to see. There was no sexier scent in the world.

I reached into the bag beside me and pulled out something else I'd packed. The lube.

Rhod recognised the snick of the lid and tilted his hips, probably unconsciously. I drew us both up so we were on our knees facing the lovely view. Well, Rhod had a view of the ocean he'd wanted to see for so long and I had a view of Rhod naked before me, so I think I won.

I slid a slick finger up and down his crack, teasing him. I'd learned that Rhod could take a lot of edging before he cracked and I loved to see and hear him on the edge, begging me to give him release. It was usually my own impatience to come inside him that caused me to end the torment .

His hole was tight and I gently massaged it until I could slide a finger inside him. I topped up the lube as I finger-fucked my mate and then added another, stretching him out.

As I worked him open, Rhod began to press back against me rhythmically, fucking himself on my fingers. I let him, exploring his body with my other hand and kissing his neck and cheek and shoulder. His hole was tight and I took my time preparing him. Sometimes I stretched him quickly, knowing it would give him a bite of pain, that he would feel me enter him. Today, though, I wanted to slide inside him smoothly, to have him take me into his body with ease.

It meant I took my time and made him desperate for me before I was finished. When I was satisfied that he was ready for me, I crooked my fingers and pressed down on his prostate. When I'd brushed over it, my touch had been light and accidental. This was the first time tonight I'd given it proper attention.

Rhod yelped, gasping for breath as I assaulted his gland and forced pleasure into his body. His hips jerked as he lost control of the little rhythm he'd had .

I slid my fingers out of his hole and spread lube on my dick. I was so hard that I was actually worried I wouldn't last long enough. The sounds of my mate gasping and panting had sounded like pure sex and I'd been leaking pre-come in a steady stream.

"Glenwise, please," he said, and I positioned myself behind him, adjusting my stance to get the best angle for my dick.

"I've got you, my love."

With one hand, I guided my cock to his stretched hole and, with the other, I held him tightly against me, his back pressed firmly to my chest. I wanted all the contact with him, his skin pressed against mine and his scent in my nostrils.

Entering Rhod was a pleasure that never failed to amaze me. His channel squeezed tightly around me, bringing me closer to the edge.

I took it slow, entering him smoothly. The way I was holding him stopped him from being able to buck his hips and so he couldn't press back against me and demand I enter him faster. Sometimes my mate got impatient with me. I loved that he did, but I also loved slowing him down and drawing out his pleasure .

Once I was fully inside him, I held still, needing to take some deep breaths to get my body under control. Rhod clenched around me and I grunted.

If he did that again, I might not be able to hold back.

"Let me take care of you," I said, as soon as I could speak coherently.

Rhod melted back against me. He became almost boneless, giving me complete control over his body.

My hard dick got impossibly harder.

Slowly, I drew it out of him, feeling the slick glide. When I thrust back inside, my rhythm was strong and sure. Rhod had one hand clenching hold of my wrist as I traced my hand all over his chest and stomach, deliberately avoiding his dick in case he was closer to the edge than I realised and I made him come before I was ready for it.

His other arm wound up and around my neck. His hand pressed against the back of my head and the position opened his body out for me to explore. I owned his body right then.

The thought made me thrust inside him harder, driving into him. I tilted my hips, searching for the angle that would light him up .

I knew I'd found it when he let out a cry. It was shock and pleasure, all wrapped up in one, and I drove myself into him at that angle again and again, determined to hit that spot until he saw stars.

My orgasm built up inside me far quicker than I would have liked, but my body was overwhelmed with the pleasure of taking my mate and I let it come. When I knew I was on the edge, about to fly, I slid my hand down to his dick and took hold of it in one quick movement. I jerked him quickly, my grip strong and firm, just how he liked it.

The scent of his come hit me first and then his cry of pleasure tore into the beautiful night, filling the sky with the sounds of our lovemaking. His body clenched hard around me, and my own orgasm peaked. I thrust deep inside him, pumping my release into his body.

I stayed where I was, enjoying the aftershocks. Rhod's body was warm and soft against mine and our scents mingled to create the most perfect little bubble of sex.

Only when my dick began to soften did I pull out, and then I kept myself pressed close to Rhod's back. He liked the physical contact as much as I did. He liked it more, in fact. There was nothing that made him smell more content than my arms around him or my body pressing his down.

Kneeling together on the open stretch of beach, the breeze played against my overheated skin, cooling it. Reluctantly, I moved. I didn't want to, but I wanted my mate to get cold even less, so I forced my legs to move and drew back.

"We'll stay here for a while," I said.

Rhod nodded, looking sated and pleased.

I checked where I'd left the bag and then shifted, letting my dragon out again. My scales were thick and the breeze suddenly stopped being cold. Dragons could get cold, but not as quickly as we did in our human form. The night was balmy and my thick hide protected me.

I positioned myself carefully, making sure I was on the blanket so that Rhod would still be on it when I pulled him back against me. Leaning forward, I nudged and nuzzled him, encouraging him into position. He went happily and I curled around him.

My dragon was peaceful after that. Sexually satisfied and sure that our mate was safe and warm, we grabbed a blanket in our teeth and tucked it against him. He didn't need it yet, but in case he needed it later, it was there. The summer night and my body temperature should be enough, and I got comfortable, resting my head on his stomach.

Rhod's hands gently stroked my cheek.

"Thank you."

I nuzzled him, trying to let him know that I appreciated his gratitude, but it wasn't necessary. Rhod was everything to me. He deserved to be taken care of, and it was my pleasure to do it.

"For all of this," he said. His hand gestured at the ocean before us and the starry sky above, the blanket and my body. I wasn't responsible for creating such beauty, but I liked seeing it with my mate.

He burrowed further into my side and I managed to curl around him more, covering him and protecting him without putting my heavy weight on him. We stayed like that for a long time and Rhod looked out at the ocean and I looked at his handsome face until his eyes closed and his breathing became deep and even.

I never felt so satisfied as when my mate was peacefully asleep in my embrace. I watched him for a while longer before closing my own eyes.