Twenty-One

Khush

When we stepped into the dining room, every set of eyes turned to us. I felt my ears go red, wondering if maybe I should apologize for the earlier disaster.

Before I could find the right words to say, Keoni barreled into me, throwing his arms around me and almost knocking me off balance.

"You're okay!" he cheered, and other voices joined in, telling me they were glad I was fine. When was I going to learn?

Stepping back, Keoni scanned me head to tail, his lips pursed thoughtfully. "You look like you're doing better now."

"Yeah, I am. Thanks," I added, meaning it from the depths of my heart. Keoni waved me off, then grabbed my hand and started dragging me toward our table.

"Slow down, kiddo. We still need to grab some food, and I gotta say hi to Jacinta before they track me down," I said, and he pouted at me as he let me go.

Smiling fondly at the little brat, I led Dustin to the counter, where Jacinta flagged me before I could even grab dishes for us.

"Khush! I see you're doing better," Jacinta said, and I nodded quickly.

"Thanks for the lunch."

"Don't get used to it. Next time you're late, I will make you do the dishes," they warned, making me smile. In their own way, they showed me just how much they cared about me, and I realized I was glad.

I was glad my parents hadn't wanted me, because it'd led me to my real family. The people in this room, the people at the Sanctuary, they were my family, and it was time I forgot about the people who'd given me nothing but pain.

I had a mate now, a man who loved me for exactly who I was, and one whom I loved just as much. I had a family, and maybe, someday I'd have a little family of my own, with kids who could be anyone or anything they wanted to be, who would be loved and accepted for who they were.

Jacinta asked Dustin a couple of questions, simple things, though the glint in their eyes said they'd caught my scent all over him. The fact they didn't mention it told me they were fond of Dustin too, and the thought made me happy. I wanted my family to care about Dustin just as much as they did about me. I wanted him to truly be a part of the Sanctuary.

Once we had our food, we made our way to our table, where Silas, Touya, and Keoni were already half-way through their meal. Dustin settled on a chair while I curled my tail under me, placing my plate on the table.

"You're looking better," Silas teased, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"I'm doing better too, thanks for asking."

Dustin chuckled, and I smiled over at him, feeling a sudden urge to feed him again. I could almost hear the teasing from my two jerk friends, though, so I restrained myself.

"Awww, he's such a smitten kitten," Keoni said, and I was pretty sure everyone in the room heard him.

I scowled at him, then shrugged, deciding to hell with it. There were worse things I could get teased about than loving Dustin.

Leaning over, I pressed a kiss on Dustin's cheek, making him turn to me with wide, surprised eyes. His cheeks were full of food like a chipmunk, and the sight made my heart skip a beat. Could he be any more adorable?

When I glanced back at my friends, they were watching me with identical sappy smiles, even Touya.

I braced myself for the teasing, but none came. Instead, Silas reached over and patted my shoulder.

"I'm so glad to see you happy, Khush." His dark eyes twinkled happily, and I smiled back at him, glad to have friends like him and Keoni. Sure, they drove me crazy sometimes, but without them, I was sure I would've lost my mind.

Dustin leaned into my side, and I brushed the tip of my tail against his ankle as I started eating, sharing a moment of connection where no words were needed to understand each other.

As we ate, the conversation drifted to more general topics. Keoni talked about helping Draven with his new project. Apparently, now that he was finished with the wheelchair, he'd decided to create a new version of Keoni's cart, one that would be less clunky and more 'pretty,' according to Keoni. I'd never known the dwarf to be without an active project, and I had a feeling he was starting to run out of ideas. Why he couldn't just take a break every once in a while, I had no idea.

Silas and Touya talked about their latest visit to the human world, and how they'd stumbled across an old friend of Touya's. I listened to them talk, chipping in every once in a while but mostly staying silent and just enjoying being around my friends.

When Dustin started telling stories about his teenage adventures—I missed how the topic came up, but the moment he started speaking, my ears tuned right in—I turned to watch him, loving the animation on his face as he used his hands to describe things, barely taking a breath in his remembered excitement. Hearing how much fun he'd had made me happy, and when he was done, I brought up a memory of my own, a prank Silas and I had played on Headmaster Morrigan.

It'd taken Silas a while to convince me—I'd only been at the Sanctuary for a couple of years, and I'd been worried the headmaster would send me back if we made him angry—but then we'd done it. Neither of us remembered what the actual prank had been, but the headmaster hadn't gotten angry.

Instead, he'd started a prank war. And since practically everything at the Sanctuary was made of his magic, he'd won. Obviously.

But the game had brought us closer, and it'd firmly cemented in my mind the fact that the headmaster was nothing like my parents.

By the time we all headed back to the Forest, stars were twinkling brightly in the sky, and Keoni was almost asleep, Silas's arm around his torso the only thing keeping him going.

"We'll drop him off at his place," Silas assured me, and we bid the other three goodnight, returning to our cabin where Scrappy greeted us with a very annoyed-sounding meow. Apparently, she'd been lonely.

Picking the cat up, I turned to Dustin. "Wanna watch a movie before we head to bed?"

After our long afternoon nap, I felt pretty awake, and didn't think I'd be falling asleep anytime soon.

"Sounds good," Dustin agreed with a grin, and I couldn't resist leaning over to steal a kiss.

Dustin

We settled on an action-thriller, and curled up together on the couch. It was the couch I'd brought over from my place—Khush's house had been surprisingly scant of furniture before I moved in—and it was just the right amount of cushiony to allow for a great cuddling experience.

I amused Khush during the movie by making comments on anything that caught my attention—like the utter impossibility of a few of the hero's stunts—and every time Khush laughed, it sent a butterfly fluttering in my belly.

Like most people, I'd always dreamed about finding the perfect person for me, of falling in love and making a family with someone. But as I grew up, I'd slowly stopped believing I'd ever get to have it.

But then came along Khush, and he changed everything.

I felt like I could dream again, and once I started, I didn't think I'd ever stop. Khush had given me a freedom I hadn't even known I needed, and I was so fucking glad our paths crossed that day in that coffee shop.

Hell, I didn't even drink coffee all that much, but I'd had a sudden craving that day that sent me looking for a coffee shop. If I hadn't believed in Fate before, I did once I'd had that realization.

When the movie ended, we cleaned up quickly before I took Khush's hand in mine and led him upstairs. The only downside of the newly built upstairs bedroom was the lack of an attached bathroom, but it was a small price to pay for Khush's comfort.

I helped Khush out of his t-shirt, and then he pulled my clothes off, his hands gentle as they ran over my skin. Somewhere between the first time I let him see me and today, I'd lost my self-consciousness. I no longer worried about what Khush thought when he saw me naked, because I knew he loved me and saw me for exactly what I was: his mate, and the man he loved.

Leaving our clothes in a pile in the corner—I made a mental note to find a laundry basket later—we slid under the covers, and Khush pulled me to him, wrapping his arms and tail around me, and surrounding me in his scent. The juxtaposition of his warm skin and slightly cooler scales against my bare skin felt amazing, and I wanted to feel his touch all over me.

I pressed my palm against his chest, feeling the steady beat of his heart under my touch, and leaned up to press my lips to his. Khush hummed softly as he returned the kiss, keeping it soft and gentle as he caressed my lips with his. His tongue licked against my lips in small, barely there brushes, and I moaned softly as I opened my mouth, offering myself to him.

He turned us around so he was above me, pressing me into the mattress, and I felt safe and cradled. Treasured. He braced his elbows on either side of me as he lowered his head to kiss me again, brushing the end of his tail up and down my calves.

Khush continued kissing me as he leaned up on one hand, reaching the other one between us until he reached my cock.

"Does this feel good?" Khush murmured against my lips as he ran his thumb and finger up and down my cock, teasing at the sensitive head.

I gasped, peering up into his yellow-brown eyes as I nodded quickly, arching up into him when he continued moving his fingers up and down.

"Fuck, Dustin. You're so hot." Khush buried his face in my neck, and I moaned when he licked a strip up the side of my neck, his tongue hot and wet against my skin.

Khush mouthed at my neck, scraping his teeth over my skin as his hand kept moving, playing with my cock until I was a groaning, whimpering mess.

I shouted his name when I felt his teeth sink into my neck, hard, and then moaned as a wave of pleasure shot through me, starting from the spot where he'd bitten me and filling my body with a warmth that seemed to reach every last inch of me.

Khush kept rubbing my cock through it all, and my orgasm rocked into me the moment the glow from whatever that bite had done to me faded, and I was off again, feeling like someone had shot me straight into the sky as I went higher and higher with no sign of coming down.

I could feel myself starting to tremble, and then Khush was all around me, holding me to him as he gently licked the spot he'd bitten.

Reaching out, I searched for his cocks, wanting to make him feel good too, but he took my hand in his and pressed a kiss to my knuckles.

"I'm okay. That was for you. I just can't get enough of this look on your face," Khush murmured, then pulled me into another kiss. I returned the kiss hazily, still feeling like I was floating. Sex had never felt like this before, and I couldn't wait to do it all over again. And again. And again.