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“We’re making quiet excellent progress,” said Alistair as he stretched his arms high over his head. “If we push onward at the same rate, we’ll arrive in Damascus within two days. How are you holding up?”
Sebastian grunted in response. When Peregrine turned to see what he was doing, he found that Sebastian had come up on him from behind, and no sooner did they make eye contact than Sebastian whisked Peregrine into his arms. With seemingly little effort, the dragon cradled him to his chest. Peregrine, unsure of what to say, looked up at him with wide eyes. Sebastian looked down at him in turn, and although he seemingly did his best to keep his expression stoic, a hint of affection perked his lips.
“My omega is sore,” Sebastian declared.
Peregrine colored. “It’s no issue, my lord. I—”
“He is too delicate to ride by camelback,” Sebastian continued, addressing Alistair even as he kept his attention focused on Peregrine. “I will carry him the rest of the way.”
“We’ve a full twenty-four hours still to travel.”
“I am aware.”
“You can’t tell me you intend to carry him for all that time.”
Sebastian looked up and his eyes flashed a challenge. “I can and I will.”
Alistair sighed in resignation and flapped a hand. “As you will. I know better than to try to convince you otherwise. But I will warn you, brother, that there is a long road ahead of us, and you may come to regret your choice after your thighs are made to work doubly hard for your indiscretion.”
“My thighs will be fine.” Sebastian carried Peregrine to the shade of a nearby tree, where he set him down in a seated position. In a quieter voice, he said, “And you will be fine, too, Perry. I vow it.”
Peregrine knew not what to say, so he craned his neck to press a sweet kiss to Sebastian’s jaw. It seemed an appropriate response, as Sebastian immediately sank to his knees and crowded Peregrine until his back was to the tree. Once he was in place, Sebastian kissed him deeply, and it was perfect. Simply perfect. Peregrine sighed into his mouth and, even if only for a moment, felt his pain melt away.
“Control yourself, brother,” Alistair grumbled, but only halfheartedly. Peregrine heard the shuffle of his feet as he went elsewhere, likely to give them some privacy. It mattered not. Sebastian would not be intimate with him now—the kiss was only a precursor of what was to come later that night when Sebastian bred him, as he always did.
“How did you know I was sore?” Peregrine asked when the kiss concluded.
Sebastian touched their noses together. “I saw how you limped when you walked.”
It seemed like such a small detail to notice, but Sebastian had noticed it all the same. Peregrine’s heart beat wildly upon realizing it. All his life he’d been told that he didn’t deserve even the smallest luxuries, as Disgraces were shameful and unwanted creatures, but the way Sebastian treated him proved those teachings wrong.
Maybe he did deserve the devotion of this handsome dragon.
And maybe, against all odds, he would bear him a clutch.
Wrapped up in the idea of such an impossible happily ever after, Peregrine tilted his head and brought their lips together again, kissing Sebastian with the same hesitant but excited passion that was bubbling up inside of him. Sebastian returned what Peregrine gave and doubled it, stripping all doubt and hesitancy away. A growl sounded in the back of his throat, and as it did, he threaded his fingers through Peregrine’s curls and held him in place. It was a frightening sound, but it made Peregrine shiver not out of fear, but desire. In those low, rumbling tones he heard Sebastian’s truth—that Peregrine was his. His for now. Maybe even his forever.
What a pretty dream.
If only it could be real.
When the kiss ended, Peregrine was short of breath and eager, despite Alistair’s presence, to serve his dragon as only an omega could. He tilted his chin upward and angled his face to best feature its attractiveness, but his efforts were for naught. Sebastian pressed a chaste kiss to his lips and stood.
“Rest now,” he said. “I will see to Alistair and make sure we are on track.”
Peregrine nodded, and so off Sebastian went.
In his absence, Peregrine settled properly against the tree. Mistress Fokje had always said that sex was a duty, but with Sebastian, it didn’t feel much like work at all.
While Peregrine thought on it, a blur of movement entered, then exited his peripheral vision. Startled, he turned his head to see what it was, but by then it was already gone.
Strange.
It must have been a bird—maybe one of the ones who made their nests in the ground. If not that, then some other burrowing animal. It seemed the only reasonable explanation.
In any case, it wasn’t worth fretting over. Peregrine pushed the thought from his mind, closed his eyes, and got comfortable. It wouldn’t be long before they were back on the road, and before that happened, he needed all the rest he could get.
* * *
