Page 5 of Beach Bats

Evan nodded and tightened his hold as he lowered himself to his knees in front of Nix. “I’ve got you.”

Evan always had him. That was the best thing about having a Daddy. Their relationship was different than Aries and Vin and Gem and Luka yet quite similar. Nix wasn’t a little like Aries. He needed something different. Nix needed his partner to take control and remind him that it was okay to worry about himself sometimes. Someone who accepted that Nix could go from chaos gremlin to sweet boy in a matter of seconds.

“I love you,” Nix whispered.

His Daddy tugged Nix with his wrists until Nix fell into him. Wrapping his legs around Evan’s waist, Nix shoved his face into Evan’s neck and breathed deep. As a shifter, scent was important in recognizing feelings and familiarity. Evan and his dragon always had a clean, fresh scent that Nix would recognize anywhere.

“My sweet boy,” Evan cooed. “I love you too.”

Heaven. This was absolutely heaven. “And I love my dragon.”

Evan chuckled. “He loves you too.”

“Because he thinks I’m awesome, right?” Nix asked. He was only half joking.

“All of me loves all of you,” Evan declared.

Same. So very much the same for Nix. It didn’t matter if Nix was in human or bat form, Evan was his. His one and only. His forever.

Gem

Pulling the sliding door open, Gem stepped out in search of his boy.

With the house packed up and sitting empty, there was nothing left to do except grab their bags and head to the airport. Gem had charted a private jet from Seattle to Vegas since this stopover was important to Luka. They were set to watch the championship game between Vegas and Dallas. Gem had suspected it would be hard for Luka to say his final goodbyes to his old life. He’d just not expected to lose his boyfriend in the empty house.

Stepping out onto the back deck, Gem peered around. There! Gem quietly made his way over to wrap an arm around Luka’s waist. “Are you okay?”

Luka nodded but didn’t respond.

“We can spend more time if you want,” Gem said. As much as he wanted to be there to support Aries and Vegas in the championship game, nothing was more important than his boy.

Turning, Luka smiled at him.

For a brief moment Gem was shocked by the look of happiness on Luka’s face. In his eyes. Practically radiating off him. “What’s going on?”

“This isn’t home any longer,” Luka told him. “I thought I would be sadder. That it would bother me to see my house empty.”

“It doesn’t?” Gem had been concerned. While he was grateful for the trade that had shocked the PAHL world and brought him his boy, it hadn’t been easy on Luka.

“I was so alone here,” Luka said. “Slowly the friends I’d made, started with, had retired or been traded off. Seattle started to bring in younger players and I didn’t connect with them.”

“Because they’re assholes,” Gem responded seriously.

“They are,” Luka agreed. “And I’d started to withdraw more and more.”

“I’m glad you came to me,” Gem said. He kissed Luka gently before nipping his lower lip. “Although I feel like I would have tracked you down eventually.”

Luka wrapped his arms around Gem’s smaller body. “I like to think so.”

Gem grasped Luka’s hips, yanking him forward so that their bodies were plastered against each other. He might not be the bigger partner in the relationship but there was no question about who was in charge. “You are mine, boy.”

“Yes,” Luka hissed, giving a small thrust of his hips which rubbed their cocks together. “And this isn’t my home any longer. My home is with you.”

“Damn straight it is,” Gem declared.

“There is one thing I’d like to do before we leave,” Luka said.

“Anything.” Gem trailed kisses across Luka’s jaw.