AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Perry?” Sebastian asked after a while.
Peregrine looked up attentively and met his gaze. “Yes?”
“When you are well, and the rot has been cleared from your body, I wish to try again.”
“Try for what, my lord?”
“For a clutch. For a child. For whatever you will give me.” Sebastian laid his hand on Peregrine’s lower abdomen, right where Everard’s had been, only there was no pain when Sebastian touched him. Pleasant goose bumps raced up his arms instead, and tingling pleasure pooled in his groin. “I wish to take your heat, as often as you’ll give it to me, come whatever may.”
Peregrine blinked away tears. “You can’t mean that.”
“I do.”
“But—”
“But nothing.” Sebastian kissed his forehead. “You are what I want, and I will not back down. I meant what I said—if you will not bear my clutch, I shall have no clutch at all.”
“You treat me as though I am not a Disgrace.”
“I treat you as though you are my mate… and I believe, in my heart, that you are.”
It all seemed so impossible, but Sebastian was not the kind of dragon who told tales. Overwhelmed by it all, Peregrine blinked tears from his eyes. “How will we know?” he asked. “Is it enough to believe it, or are there other signs? If we are mates, then… then if I do conceive, you need not send me away, but if not…”
“There are ways to tell.” Sebastian brushed a tear off his cheek. “An omega mated by a dragon will bear a mark—I have memorized your body from head to toe, and should one appear, I’ll know. I have heard tell of a bond that forms between mates, although I have no way to know if it is real, or a legend told to encourage starry-eyed whelps to dream. Through it, you should be able to feel the things I feel—both emotions and physical pain.”
“And should you be able to feel mine in turn?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“Then did you feel it?” Peregrine asked. “The pain as Everard scrubbed the rot from me?”
Sebastian frowned and shook his head, but it did not look like he’d given up hope. “I do not know how long a bond takes to form, or if they exist at all, but the dragon inside of me tells me you are mine, and so it shall be. For I love you. I love you deeply. I will find a way to keep you, no matter what it might take.”
Peregrine closed his eyes and rested his head on Sebastian’s shoulder. It seemed so much like a dream, to have won his dragon’s love by being nothing but himself, but it was real. Sebastian knew he was a Disgrace, and still he wanted forever.
“I love you, my lord dragon,” Peregrine whispered. “I will gladly be your treasure for as long as you shall have me, and I will give you my heat for as long as you should want it.”
“Always, then,” Sebastian said with a laugh, and kissed the top of Peregrine’s head. “I cannot wait until you have recovered so we may try again. Our family will be beautiful. You shall be an excellent father.”
“And you,” Peregrine said, “will be an excellent mate.”
Something changed in Sebastian then—a tightening of his muscles, an inward draw of breath, and a flaring of desire. Peregrine felt it in the air, in his heart, in his bones. It unspooled inside of him, heightening his own desire, and so it came as no surprise that when he lifted his head to look at Sebastian, Sebastian kissed him fiercely. Peregrine wrapped his arms around his neck and shifted his position to straddle Sebastian’s lap, deepening their passion until they were both hard, panting, and desperate for more.
“When the bleeding has stopped,” Sebastian uttered breathlessly, “you must tell me at once so I may ravage you.”
“I will.”
“Do you know the things you do to me? How enraptured I am by you?”
“No, I can’t say I do…” Peregrine paused and considered it. “Although I cannot fathom that anyone could desire a lover with greater ferocity than I desire you.”
Sebastian growled and kissed him again, pushing him down amongst their bedding while yanking aside Peregrine’s hose. Peregrine gasped and kissed him harder, wanting nothing more than for Sebastian to claim him, but as aroused as he was, he knew better than to give in. “You must refrain, my lord.”
“Refrain from what?” Sebastian wrapped his hand around Peregrine’s dick. “From pleasuring you?”
“Everard says I will bleed to pass the rot. You mustn’t come in contact with it. I cannot say I understand, but there is tissue trapped inside of me, and it must come out before I am to serve you lest we exacerbate the problem.”
Sebastian chuckled and kissed Peregrine’s neck. “There are other ways to please a man. Let me show you.”
