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“Mine,” Sebastian rumbled as he threaded his fingers through Peregrine’s curls and kissed from his neck to his jaw to his lips. “Mine forever. Mine. All mine.”
“Yours,” Peregrine gasped through their kiss. “Yours forever.”
He wrapped his arms around Sebastian’s neck and kissed and kissed until Sebastian’s hips began to move again, working his knot deeper, bonding them more. Peregrine’s legs, which were hooked over Sebastian’s hips, drooped. It was too much work to keep them up. Orgasm had left him too boneless, and his attentions were now focused elsewhere—namely on his racing heart.
Sebastian wanted him.
And against all odds, he’d left Peregrine with egg.
“Our clutch will be large and strong,” Sebastian growled into Peregrine’s mouth. “Mighty warriors, every last one.”
“I vow it, my lord.”
“And I will mate you, Peregrine.” Sebastian continued to thrust. With his knot lodged so deep and swollen as it was, he wasn’t able to get much movement, but even with thrusts no more than a fraction of an inch, he brought Peregrine pleasure. “I will mate you and make you mine, and no one will take you away from me. No one. You will be my wytad, and I will keep you and our eggs safe.”
Peregrine kissed Sebastian with increased fervor, and when Sebastian’s knot began to deflate, he worked his hips to tempt Sebastian to take him again. It didn’t take long for Sebastian to understand, and they came again a half hour later, leaving Peregrine exhausted, sweaty, and utterly addicted to the dragon who promised such pretty, impossible things.
* * *
The palace Sebastian had secured for them was larger than Peregrine’s cloister and more magnificent than any building Peregrine had seen to date. There were more rooms than he could count, and even the smallest of them was bigger than the largest room back home. What was more, each bedchamber had its own garderobe that eliminated the need for chamber pots—a luxury indeed. Although, Peregrine had to admit, it was a little strange to have to step out of a room to relieve oneself.
Each of the rooms in the palace—garderobes included—was ornate. The walls, floors, and ceilings were decorated in the same arabesque style as Peregrine’s bedchamber and the windows and doors were all fancifully tall and domed at the top, meeting in the center at a sharp peak. The colors were bold and beautiful. Rich blues and reds and yellows, and, good lord, the gold. So much gold. It glittered and gleamed and seemed to please Sebastian very much, which meant that it pleased Peregrine, too.
In Peregrine’s favorite room, however, there was not a speck of gold in sight. In this room, no color had been worked into the design of the walls, floor, or ceiling at all, because it came from another source: the stained glass on all three exterior walls. When the light hit it just right, its vibrant colors bled across the floor and seemed to color the air itself. Peregrine had never seen anything so beautiful.
What a world they lived in, where men could make something so beautiful from nature. And what a life Peregrine lived now where he could be at his leisure to enjoy such luxuries.
It hardly seemed real that a few months ago, he’d been half-starved and convinced no dragon would ever come for him.
Sebastian had proved him wrong in every sense of the word.
With Alistair and Everard, the doctor, both gone and Sebastian often out and about to see to it that they were granted sanction for their clutch, Peregrine spent a great deal of time sitting in the stained-glass room and appreciating the windows. Pake, by appearances, seemed to enjoy them, too. In particular, the tortoise enjoyed when the design from the windows was projected onto the floor. When that happened, he’d spend his time plodding from one colorful section to the next, stopping to stand in each for several moments before moving on. Peregrine considered it evidence of tremendous intelligence and encouraged Pake to continue the behavior by feeding him leafy greens whenever he played in the light.
Pake had not grown much in the weeks since Peregrine had come into his possession. The tiny tortoise was still small enough that he could sit quite comfortably on Peregrine’s palm and still have space to walk around. Peregrine had no idea how large he’d grow, but he quite liked how small and sweet Pake was. Perhaps, he thought one day when lying near the stained glass, it was why Sebastian liked him. Like Pake, he was small and sweet, especially when compared to the dragon.
Whatever the reason, Peregrine was glad he’d caught Sebastian’s eye. His lord wasn’t a man of many words, but he was virtuous and loyal. Peregrine didn’t doubt that he meant what he said when he promised that they would become mates. The problem was, Peregrine had no clue how to go about doing it. Mates were so incredibly rare that it was a surprise Mistress Fokje had thought to mention their existence at all.
“What do you think, Pake?” Peregrine asked aloud one day while he lounged in the glow of the stained glass with his tortoise. “Will my lord and I truly be able to mate, or is it all a tall tale? I do so wish it to be real. Can you imagine it? A Disgrace like me, mated to a dragon? I would never in my wildest dreams imagine it possible, but I would never have imagined I’d be with egg, either, and yet…” He set a hand on his stomach. “I very well could be.”
Pake lifted his head slowly and blinked at Peregrine.
“Yes, you’re right.” Peregrine used a single finger to pet Pake on his head. “It is silly to dwell on it, but it can’t be helped. If we don’t mate, I’ll be sent back to my cloister after I lay and I’ll never see him again.”
Pake, as slow and steady as always, stepped forward and fit himself into the space under Peregrine’s chin.
“What should I do?” Peregrine asked as Pake settled. “I don’t want to lose him. I want to stay forever and give him every clutch his heart desires. But how?”
The door opened, startling Peregrine. It was one of the servants, a young woman with a sweet face and pretty brown eyes who bowed her head when Peregrine looked her way. Peregrine didn’t speak her language, which was unfortunate, as he wished he could tell her that she needn’t respect him as she did their lord, but he did his best to convey how he felt in the kind way he treated her and by the tone of his voice.
“Hello.” He took Pake in one hand and sat up. “Is everything well? Is there something I can help you with, or did you want to sit here with me and enjoy the window, too?”
The woman bowed her head and stepped forward, then set a box at Peregrine’s feet and exited the room. Peregrine looked after her, neck craned, but when she didn’t return, he set his sights on the box. It was long and not very tall. When he touched it, he found it not all that heavy. “How odd.”
Peregrine set Pake down to enjoy the light from the stained glass on the floor and worked the top of the box open. It contained fine silk. Atop it sat a note.
Peregrine,
A dragon’s mate deserves to look the part.
