Unwanted Mates 9

His Dragon Protector

[Siren Everlasting Classic ManLove: Erotic Romance, Alternative, Fantasy,
Shape-shifters, Paranormal, MM, HEA]

Vince loves his solitude and wants to be left alone. He wants to hunt and live in
his cabin and mind his own business.

The stray human, freezing in the stream he fishes in right before the last heavy
snowstorm of the year changes all of that, and now, as they spend days locked
together in his small home, he cannot give Teddy back.

Teddy can't take it anymore. He hates his mate. Ian's an abusive prick, and he
wants out, After being sold to the man by his half-brother, Teddy is willing to
risk it all.

The kindness of another dragon, a man of the forest, is more than he ever
expected, and as the storm rages outside, Teddy's dangerous love for Vince
grows, which can only lead to heartbreak as his mate is still out there, looking
for him, wanting him back.

Length: 27,000 words

HIS DRAGON PROTECTOR

Unwanted Mates 9

Marcy Jacks

Siren Publishing, Inc.

www.SirenPublishing.com
A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

His Dragon Protector

Copyright © 2021 by Marcy Jacks

ISBN: 978-1-64637-538-7
First Publication: November 2021
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2021 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or

transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or
photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written
permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to
actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this

copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including
infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is
punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book or print book being sold or shared

illegally, please let us know at [email protected]

PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marcy Jacks lives and works in Quebec Canada with her loyal hound
and is probably behind on her next deadline. She loves writing about angst
and true love, and you can find more of her work at marcyjacks.com

For all titles by Marcy Jacks, please visit

www.bookstrand.com/marcy-jacks
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
HIS DRAGON PROTECTOR
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
HIS DRAGON PROTECTOR
Unwanted Mates 9

MARCY JACKS
Copyright © 2021
 Chapter One
Vince didn’t go out of his way to avoid the humans. He would just
rather keep the contact to a minimum.
Especially the humans who lived on the land where he hunted.
He knew the old owner had a couple of mates, knew he wasn’t overly
kind to them, and he held no hope the new owner would be much better.
He didn’t expect to find a human male, shivering in the stream, hidden
in the weeds, staring up at him with wide, dark green eyes.
He thought they might be brown at first but then realized the pupils
were so large due to the cold.
Winter wasn’t quite officially over, and the waters were freezing.
The male was pale, his torn clothing hanging from his body, and he
sank deeper into the weeds as though terrified Vince would punish him.
One of his eyes was bruised, his lower lip bleeding.
Vince didn’t recognize this human. Not that he went to the main house
too often where the mates of the dragon who owned it lived, but he was
aware the new owner had brought some mates of his own.
Vince might not approve of dragons who took more than one mate, but
it was also not his place to criticize the male who paid him.
Vince frowned, about to ask the male what he was doing and what
happened to him, when he heard the heavy flapping sound of wings from
above.
The male shuddered, a terrified noise escaping him before he sank
deeper into the weeds, almost submerging his whole body in the cold water.
Hiding, as Ian Benedict, the new owner of the land and vast house, and
Vince’s tiny cottage, landed on the bank only a few feet from where Vince
stood.
Vince adjusted the rifle strapped to his back, standing a little straighter.
“Sir,” he said as Ian approached him.
The man was still mostly in his human shape. Two legs, two arms, but
there were red scales covering the bits of skin that were visible beneath his
long-sleeved shirt and around his neck and face. Red horns and his eyes
were that of a reptile as he folded his wings behind his back.
“I have a job for you, hunter,” Ian said.
 Vince bit back his annoyance. His job was to hunt for the meat for the
house and for the town this land was meant to care for. He also had a name.
George had been an annoying drunk, but he at least knew well enough
to leave Vince alone.
“What is it?” he asked, already thinking he had a good idea.
“One of my mates ran away. I want him back.”
“I see. What did he look like?”
Ian proceeded to describe the male Vince had spotted in the water and
give his name. Teddy, his name was Teddy.
“He may have some bruising about him. He’s been stealing.”
Vince frowned. “Why?”
“Because humans steal, it’s their way, and they need reminding of why
that can be a mistake. I lost his scent, but he must be nearby. If you see him,
bring him home for me, won’t you?”
“I will,” Vince said without thinking.
He absolutely should not have said that. He should have pointed out the
runaway in the water right then and there.
Too much trouble. He was going to get in so much trouble for this, and
even if he didn’t, the hassle alone was annoying enough.
Vince wanted quiet. He wanted to be left alone. He didn’t want to deal
with…whatever this was.
Apparently, he sounded convincing enough because Ian clapped him on
the shoulder. “Good hunt?”
“Not so far. I will have to put my search on hold unless I come across
your mate while searching for animals.”
“Try not to shoot him. He’s an annoyance, but I like his fire.”
There was something in Ian’s eyes when he said that, something that
gave Vince pause.
“I understand.”
He thought of Teddy’s bruised face and was fairly sure he really did
understand.
“Right. Well, bag me a moose or something if you can. The meat stores
are drying up.”
“My apologies, things have been quite dry as a general rule around here
this winter.”
“Yes, I’m sure that will turn around soon enough.”
 Ian eyed him up and down as though he was searching for a lie in
something Vince said to him.
He must have decided it was no bother as he spread his wings and, with
a powerful jump, launched himself back into the sky.
Vince watched him go, higher and higher until he was nothing more
than a dot in the sky, then flying west, searching for his runaway mate.
Vince sighed.
He was in trouble. There was no getting around it. This was a mistake
that he wouldn’t be able to take back now.
When Ian eventually found his little runaway, and realized what
happened, Vince would pay the price for lying to him.
He’d done it. There was no taking it back now, so he might as well get
this over with.
“He’s gone,” Vince said.
The immediate sound behind him was a splash of the chilled stream
water, a heavy gasp for breath, and Vince heard the rustling of weeds as
Teddy dragged himself out of the water.
Vince turned to look at the pathetic sight.
Teddy shivered from top to bottom. His clothes, as wet as they were,
would not have been protection from the light chill in the air even if he was
not soaked.
He would catch his death.
“Th-thank you,” Teddy said, the first words he’d spoken to Vince since
they spotted each other.
He sounded rough, horrible, but Vince’s heart tugged for him.
“Do not thank me. I have not yet decided what’s to be done with you.”
Teddy looked up at him, his eyes wide once more, his shivering not
stopping.
A sight that reminded Vince terribly of something he’d seen before.
Something he should not have.
“I will get you something to eat. Put you in front of a fire. For now,” he
said, approaching Teddy and holding out his hand.
Teddy flinched away from it.
Vince felt that tugging in his chest again.
Gentle. He needed to be gentle.
“I will not hurt you.”
 Teddy stared at his hand. “Will you…will you send me back?”
Vince could not answer that. He did not wish to lie to the little male.
Instead, he reached down and took Teddy’s hand, yanking him up to his
feet.
Of course, the little human immediately gripped tightly to Vince’s
shoulders, getting his coat wet and making Vince grit his teeth.
“Do not touch the gun.”
“W-won’t. Sorry,” Teddy stammered. “I’m s-so cold. My l-legs.”
Ah, that made sense. The little human was keeping his balance.
Being in that water, even for a short amount of time, would be enough
to make any man’s knees weak.
Vince sighed, asking himself why he was going through this trouble.
He peeled himself out of Teddy’s arms, reaching down, his arm coming
beneath Teddy’s knees before the male could fall over.
Teddy gasped for breath, his grip suddenly around Vince’s neck instead
of his shoulders.
“P-please,” Teddy sputtered.
“Don’t ask me things I cannot give.”
Vince headed back home to the cabin he rented on the land. It was far
enough away from the main house but still on the property that it wasn’t
likely Ian would fly by it or check in now that he had Vince’s promise to
keep an eye out for his little runaway.
He asked Vince to keep an eye out for him, and Vince said he would,
that he would return him even.
He never said when he would return him.
Hot soup and dry clothes would be a small gift for what Teddy
apparently had to go back to.
“Did Ian put those marks on your face?” he asked, sure he already knew
the answer.
Teddy didn’t respond.
Vince glanced down and saw Teddy’s eyes were shut.
He still shivered, which was a good thing. His body still had enough
energy to want to produce heat, even in that small way, but passing out
while so cold was still not a good sign.
Vince hurried home.
 Chapter Two
It had been a long time since Ian punched him. Teddy couldn’t even
remember what he’d said to deserve it.
Something sarcastic, most likely. That was typically what it was.
Ian used to say he liked it. Maybe he still did.
Teddy didn’t understand what was to like about it if all Ian did was get
annoyed and hit him every time he said something Ian didn’t approve of.
Teddy didn’t fight back anymore.
After he was given away, after he realized just who his new mate was,
he’d fought and kicked and punched to the best of his ability.
Living with his father and half-brother, both of whom were dragons,
hadn’t exactly been a cakewalk, but it was miles and miles better than being
Ian’s mate.
He loved it when he saw his mates were in pain.
Fucking loved it.
The jerk.
So when he punched Teddy in the eye, grabbing him by his hair and
slamming him in the wall, making his lip bleed, Teddy couldn’t take it
anymore.
He had to try. One more time. Running away never worked. He was
always caught, and the whole of the winter, he had no good clothes to make
another attempt.
He thought it wouldn’t be so cold. He didn’t realize it was that bad.
There was almost no snow anymore, and when he started running, his
adrenaline and sweating out his body heat almost kept him a little too warm.
But every time he stopped, he cooled down, and slowly he started
running out of energy.
Getting to the stream seemed like the best idea.
Dragons had a decent sense of smell, and he figured the stream would
help with it, but damn, it had been freezing.
Then a mysterious dragon shifter with a gun showed up.
Had to be a dragon. He was so tall, though Teddy had never seen him
before.
 Ian clearly knew him, and strangely, the male didn’t immediately give
Teddy away. He didn’t hand him over even when Ian asked about him and
described him.
He would eventually, though. He would have to if he was a worker on
this land.
Dragons didn’t care about humans even during the best of times.
Maybe his father loved Teddy’s human mother, but that was a rarity.
And she died giving birth to Teddy, so even that had to be ruined.
For now, he felt warm, warm and dry and comfortable. He felt as if he
was sandwiched beneath so many layers, some soft furs. Some nice-
smelling blankets, as though they had just come from the wash.
Teddy didn’t want to open his eyes.
When he did, he expected to see a rustic, wooden cabin, something with
four walls and almost nothing else.
He was shocked to see…well, it was an open concept cabin. The bed he
was bundled up in was in sight of the small kitchen along the far wall.
There was electricity, which was obvious from the lights on and the
stove running.
The smell of something delicious simmered on the stove, and now that
he was more awake, he realized there was a radio playing, the volume on
low. He didn’t recognize the song, but it lulled him, made him want to sleep
again.
Since mating with Ian and taking his bite, he almost never got to wrap
himself in blankets, much less in a bed like this.
Ian didn’t believe in giving the humans he mated beds.
Bare mattresses were a luxury, and even then, there wasn’t always
room.
Ian seemed to think it would spoil the humans under his command,
make them lazy.
Teddy kept looking around, trying not to be obvious about it.
Outside it looked dark, but the clock read that it wasn’t even five in the
afternoon, and to his shock, a flurry of snow fell outside.
A storm? Really?
Well, he supposed there was still a week left of winter. There was
always one or two snowstorms left when the snow finally seemed ready to
go.
 It likely wouldn’t last, though. Teddy couldn’t even comfort himself
that this was a reason for the dragon to keep him a little while longer.
The snow would let up, and he would have to be returned.
A door opened, a cold gush of air came in, and Teddy shivered, hiding
under the covers again.
The door closed, but the chill remained. Heavy boot steps sounded,
going for the stove.
“You’re awake. Good. I was worried.”
Teddy blinked, peeking his head out of the blankets and soft furs.
The dragon shifter pulled the lid off what was on the stove, stirring it.
“Hope you like stew. It’s what I had that was simple enough. Snow just
started coming down right when I got back.”
Finally, the dragon looked back at him. “How are you feeling?”
Realizing he was still lying on his side, and he didn’t want to be rude in
someone else’s house, Teddy quickly sat up, ignoring the vertigo he gave
himself.
“Fine, sir, thank you.”
The dragon eyed him hard, as though searching for something before
looking away, back to the soup.
Then, miraculously, he opened the oven itself and pulled out a small
tray of fresh rolls.
Teddy’s stomach growled, his mouth watering.
Would he get to eat that? He shouldn’t assume. Ian liked to keep his
humans thin, but this dragon had asked if he liked stew. Why would he say
that unless he was planning on sharing?
Or he could be testing Teddy or teasing him, or any number of things
that meant Teddy would still not eat today.
Just as he had not eaten for most of yesterday.
His punishment, along with Ian’s physical treatment, for mouthing off.
“Your clothes are in the dryer now, if you were wondering about that.”
The dragon nodded to a set of closet doors where a small rumbling sound
was going on.
“Won’t be much longer.”
Teddy blinked, looking down at himself, realizing he was wearing an
oversized shirt that definitely did not belong to him.
There was a music logo on it. AC/DC.
 He also had on a pair of baggy sweatpants. The string was tied tight
enough to keep it on his body should he stand up, but he got the feeling his
body would vanish in these clothes.
And Teddy was suddenly embarrassed.
He stood up, and yes, the clothes were definitely not his and definitely
way too big.
“You…undressed me?”
“You were going to make yourself sick.” The dragon opened a
cupboard and grabbed two bowls, making Teddy hope even more. “I…
made an attempt to be as discreet as possible, but you could not keep
wearing those.”
Teddy nodded. It wasn’t up to him what a dragon decided to do with his
body anyway. He’d always known that, and his asshole brother loved to
mock him about it but didn’t have any real experience with that concept
until Ian.
Even now, his mating bite itched. He didn’t dare touch it, though. Not
lest it draw attention to Ian, give off some signal to the other male about
where he was.
He stayed exactly as he was, hungry and smelling the good food while
the dragon scooped two heaping bowls.
Then, almost making Teddy moan with desire, he buttered two warm
rolls, sticking them on top of the thick stew and turning to look at Teddy
with both bowls in his hand.
“I don’t eat on my bed. You won’t either. Come and sit on the couch.”
“Right, yes, sir,” Teddy moved with a speed he didn’t know he
possessed.
There was no kitchen table, which made sense in a small space like this.
The dragon set both bowls on the little coffee table.
“That one’s yours,” he said, pointing at a bowl that had equal helpings
to the other.
Teddy didn’t care what was going to happen to him after tonight. He
fucking loved this man.
“Sit,” he commanded, then walked away.
Teddy immediately grabbed his bowl.
It was hot. He just barely stopped himself from dropping the bowl by
sitting it in his lap, using the clothing given to him as a shield against the
heat.
He took the roll first, biting into it, moaning.
He hadn’t eaten fresh bread in so long.
Even back home, it was rarely made fresh like this, usually premade
and stuffed into bags to make things easier for the chef, and if there had
been any, his brother sure as hell made sure he never got so much as a bite.
The melted butter on his tongue was heavenly, and he quickly used the
roll to scoop some of the hot stew up and into his mouth, big bites at a time
until there was no more roll left.
He had to eat fast, just in case this dragon’s generosity was timed.
Ian would often give food just to take it away before Teddy got more
than a bite or two in, teaching him to be quick with his meals and thankful
for them.
When he ran out of bread, he just put the hot bowl to his mouth and
started drinking down the heavy stew, barely stopping to chew the bigger
pieces of spiced chicken and potato. He hardly felt the pain in his lip as he
ate. It was so good.
When he finished, Teddy was beyond proud of himself, and he sighed,
feeling warm inside and out as he set the bowl down.
Just to look up and see his host standing there, eyes wide and two
spoons in hand.
“I suppose you don’t need this anymore.”
Teddy felt a different kind of heat rising inside him.
Embarrassed, he ducked his head. “I’m…really sorry.”
He didn’t know what else to say. Did he look like a slob? Eating like
that?
Probably, but he couldn’t help himself. He hadn’t been able to pack any
food, or anything at all, before running away.
The dragon sighed, taking the empty bowl and walking away, which
was probably for the best because otherwise Teddy might have slid his
fingers along the inside, licking away the remains.
To his shock, the dragon added another smaller helping of stew to the
bowl and grabbed another buttered roll, bringing it back.
“Eat slowly this time, if you can still eat more,” he said, setting the
bowl down.
Teddy thought he might cry.
 He swallowed over the sharp rock in his throat and nodded instead.
“Thank you.”
He reached for the spoon first this time, then the bowl.
Ow. Still hot.
Damn dragons and being able to withstand heat. It tricked him
sometimes into touching things that he shouldn’t.
“When was the last time you ate?” asked the dragon, the couch dipping
slightly as he took a seat next to Teddy.
The guy had to be over seven feet tall.
But most dragon shifters were huge like that.
“Uh, today? I guess? There were some nuts I found while running.”
The dragon took two bites of his stew, not looking at him, but he
nodded. “And before that?”
What was it with the questions?
“Day before yesterday. I was…being bad.”
The dragon looked at him hard. “Being bad. Does that explain this?”
He pointed to Teddy’s eye and then his mouth, the male’s finger
lingering just in front of Teddy’s lips without touching.
Teddy blinked, snapping himself out of…whatever that was supposed to
be.
“I…yeah. I knew that if I got sarcastic with him…it’s my fault, never
mind.”
Even though he knew it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t fair. He wasn’t even
trying to be rude. He’d made a joke about Ian’s computer skills, how he was
typing, but he didn’t mean anything by it.
As if for a minute he forgot who he was talking to, that there would be
no friendly banter between them, no making friends with Ian and maybe
becoming real lovers.
Ian took the ribbing for a huge insult and reacted in kind.
That was the right thing to say. He was the human. It was always going
to be his fault, especially when talking to a dragon.
He suddenly wasn’t so sure he could eat, but Teddy did it anyway
because he didn’t know when he would be eating again.
The dragon watched him for a moment, then went back to his own
meal.
They ate quietly for a time before the dragon spoke up.
 “I’m Vince, by the way.”
Teddy nodded. “Teddy,” he said, though he knew Vince was already
aware of his name. He’d heard Ian and Vince talking, but it seemed polite to
offer it himself.
Vince was quiet for another moment before speaking up again. “You
can stay here for a little while, at least until the storm passes. Should be
over by tomorrow. We’re not supposed to have anything heavy.”
Teddy nodded. “Thank you for your kindness.”
Because it was kindness. Teddy didn’t want to go back, but this guy
likely had no choice either.
Dragons were in charge but not always in charge of each other. They
still had their own superiors to answer to.
“If there was anything I could do…” Vince trailed off, apparently
deciding that was not the right thing to start saying. Teddy didn’t blame
him.
Best to not get fantasies of rescue and happy endings in his head.
They ate the rest of their meal in silence, sitting together, perfect
strangers sharing a meal as if it was normal for a mated human to be sitting
next to a dragon, who was not his mate, eating quietly.
Outside, the wind howled hard enough to make the house shift, and it
got darker and darker still.
 Chapter Three
Vince offered the little human his bed. He meant to give the couch but
seeing his bruised face did something to him. He couldn’t stand the
memories, the need to do something about it.
Since there was nothing he could do, offering food and a bed seemed to
be the best.
Teddy looked horrified, insisting Vince had done enough for him and
offering to take the floor of all places.
Vince was sickened. “You will not sleep on my floor!”
Teddy flinched, and God, was this something else Vince had not been
aware of with Ian?
“Does your mate make you sleep on the floor?” In that big house? With
all those rooms?
He knew dragons who had multiple mates didn’t always sleep with
them, but there should be more than enough space in that huge house.
“I mean…sometimes there’s a mattress, but we all got to share it, you
know?”
Terrible heat rose up inside him. It was a struggle to keep from showing
it, showing how disgusted he was. How angry.
He knew Ian wasn’t so kind, but that was normal. He thought the man
would be as annoying as George had been.
That dragon had been a neglectful drunk. Vince suspected he gave his
mates a slap here and there, which was bad enough, but during his visits,
Vince had never seen any of them so terribly bruised as Teddy was.
Never had any of them run away.
None that he knew of. Perhaps George had been as bad as Ian. Ian was
just the better fighter for being able to win a dragon fight and take the land.
“I’m sorry. I’m not trying to cause trouble,” Teddy said, snapping Vince
out of his thoughts and looking to the window. “Please just don’t put me
outside.”
“I wouldn’t do that.” Vince was more and more horrified. The wind
howled against the side of his house.
With stunning clarity, he realized that if he had not found Teddy in the
water, the man would likely have frozen to death out there by now.
 Soaking wet, cold, no protection from the elements and hungry with the
storm out there becoming worse and worse.
Even if this only lasted the night, he would not have survived.
“You will sleep in my bed.”
Teddy tensed up, eying the bed with fear in his eyes.
“Not with me,” Vince was quick to say, though his body did not mind
the idea.
Now that Teddy did not look like a drowned rat, he was quite a
handsome sight, bruising and all.
Teddy visibly sighed. “Thank you, but please…I can’t…it’s your
bed…” He looked around helplessly.
“May I take your couch?”
Vince supposed that was as good a compromise as any.
He allowed it, his heart hurting all over again when he offered Teddy a
spare fur and blanket, just to have the man take them with more shock and
wonder in his eyes.
How was he ever supposed to give this man back to Ian? If…when he
did it, he knew his mother, God rest her soul, would be ashamed of him.
“Good night,” Vince said, turning out the lights.
“Good night,” Teddy said softly from his place on the worn couch.
It was some comfort, knowing he was able to give even this small thing
to the male.
And he now had an excuse for not returning him right away. He could
tell Ian most of the truth. That he found Teddy in the water, but the storm
was picking up, and he needed shelter and warmth right away. Ian would
have to take his word on it. The proof raged against his cottage outside.
The power went out in the middle of the night.
Vince could tell because soon, his own blankets weren’t enough to keep
warm, and he woke before dawn, shivering.
He could see his breath in the air, and Teddy shivered and huddled
under his blankets as well.
Fuck.
None of the small lights were active on any of his appliances.
The wind still howled, and snow stuck to his windows outside.
Luckily he had an old school backup, and his cottage was small enough
to make use of it.
 A small, wood-burning stove sat in the corner, closer to where Teddy
still fitfully slept. It always did the trick during power outages in the winter.
Vince started a fire and got it going.
He grabbed the kettle next, filling it with water, grateful the pipe still
worked, but he had large, filled bottles for backup should they stop.
He put the kettle on top of the stove, letting it boil.
Teddy would need a warm breakfast, after all, and having a supply of
hot water was always useful for washing.
Teddy slept a shockingly long amount of time. Small, gray light
managed to make it through his windows before he opened his eyes.
By then, Vince and Teddy could both exhale without their breath being
visible, so it was likely for the best.
“What time is it?” Teddy asked. “I’m sorry I slept so long.”
“No apologies necessary,” Vince said, getting his oatmeal packs ready.
“You had an eventful night. The power went out, but it’s nearly ten in the
morning.”
Teddy sat up, dark eyes widening as if that was something that would
get him into trouble with Ian.
He seemed to recall where he was, however, relaxing slightly.
That was an improvement.
“I….can make you breakfast if you want?” Teddy said, getting up.
“No need. Our breakfast is basically made.”
Teddy cocked his head, seemingly confused.
“You will eat with me again,” Vince clarified.
He would have to speak with Ian about his treatment of his mates if this
was the reaction Vince got to feeding someone.
He could at least do that much when it came time to give this man back.
“Oh! Oh, thank you so much. I would like to eat.”
Vince’s fucking heart could not handle this.
He walked to the wood-burning stove. Teddy looked at it and made a
shocked noise, as though only just realizing it was there.
Using a cloth, Vince took the kettle from the top.
“Hopefully, the power comes back soon, but with how far out I am,
when it goes out, it’s usually for a while.”
He nodded to the windows. “And it looks as though you’ve been bought
more time.”
 Teddy looked as well, shoulders slumping, clearly relieved at the sight
of the still-raging storm.
“You won’t make me walk back?”
Irritation flared inside him. “I won’t have your death on my
conscience.”
If Ian killed him, he would have it there whether he liked it or not.
Vince banished the thought. He grabbed more bowls, putting together
his meal for two.
Oatmeal packs with powdered milk for the calories and flavor, dried
meat and fruits with some nuts, and he still had a bottle of the real maple
syrup he’d been given for his last birthday from his brother, along with the
leftover rolls from yesterday and some jam.
Normally he wouldn’t have put together a spread like this, but he still
felt the need to make sure his guest was well fed.
Teddy looked at the offerings as though he was being given a real feast.
“This is part of my emergency supplies, for now. I don’t want to open
the fridge until I know when the power comes back,” he explained.
“Though, if it doesn’t come back, I have some food storage outside to keep
the milk, meat and eggs good.”
It was certainly cold enough that it wouldn’t matter.
“Won’t the animals get at it?”
“It’s sealed to keep them from sniffing around,” he said, sitting on the
couch, now that Teddy was no longer sleeping and it was no longer his bed.
“Eat.”
Teddy did, moaning and closing his eyes with the same pleasure he did
last night.
Vince couldn’t help himself. He watched the man, watched his mouth
work as he chewed and swallowed.
Against his better judgment, Vince took special notice of his throat. The
bobbing of his Adam’s apple with every swallow.
Vince shoved his food into his mouth when he got the idea to press his
tongue to Teddy’s throat.
After, he made sure the little human knew how to work the stove, and
the kettle, in case he happened to want some hot tea.
He showed Teddy where the sugar was and promised him he could eat
his fill of leftover rolls, jam, and some of the dried meat while Vince went
out hunting.
“You’re going hunting in that?” Teddy stared at him as if he was out of
his mind.
Vince smiled, getting his gloves and jacket.
“I’m not about to walk all the way back to that huge house you left in
this, but I need to do a small round. There’s been a meat shortage. For the
town and the house. It’s my job to keep it stocked.”
“Okay, but…are you sure that’s not dangerous? What if you get lost?”
It sounded like genuine concern, not just the little human being worried
that Vince would sneak off to Ian and let him know his mate was here,
waiting for him.
Vince was oddly touched.
Don’t think about it.
“It can be, which is why I need you to keep the stove nice and warm.
I’ll be able to smell the wood smoke from a distance. It will lead me back.
Can you do that?”
“Yes!” Teddy said quickly, eager to be of any help. “Yes, definitely. Is
there something else I can do?”
There wasn’t much he could do. Vince glanced around. “Relax, I
suppose, sleep if you’re still feeling weak. The bath should still be working,
though I don’t believe the hot water is on, and I don’t recommend anything
cold for you. That’s another reason I want you to keep the stove burning. I
don’t want my pipes freezing.”
“I won’t let them. I’ll take care of everything,” Teddy promised.
Vince nodded, and as he left to do his job in this godforsaken weather,
he found himself wishing he could be the one to take care of everything
where Teddy was concerned.

****

Teddy wasn’t sure what he should be doing aside from not making a
mess and taking care of the fire so Vince could come back.
He was bored out of his mind, but he had to remind himself that being
bored was a luxury.
It meant he wasn’t hurting, wasn’t hungry, and since Vince had given
him permission, he sneaked a little more of his dried fruits, eating a roll
with jam, and hiding one somewhere he could grab it should he need to run.
The snow came down hard outside.
He had no idea this storm was coming. Otherwise, he might not have
tried to leave when he did.
Teddy shivered. He was well aware that if Vince had not found him,
then he would have died out in that.
Ian didn’t give him or any of the other humans proper winter clothes,
and he’d been soaked through and already cold, so…yeah.
The clothes Vince had given him to wear were so comfortable that he
didn’t want to get into his threadbare shirt and pants with the holes in them.
He would have to give back this oversized sweater and thick sweatpants
eventually.
Teddy’s heart sank. He suddenly lost interest in the bread roll, but as
always, forced himself to eat since food was never a guarantee.
Ian was likely not going to feed Teddy for a while when he was sent
back.
Because he would have to go back.
Vince hadn’t said one way or another what his plans with Teddy were,
but it was clear.
Vince worked for Ian, and he’d apparently worked for the previous
owner before Ian swooped in and made a challenge for the land.
Vince would take Teddy back, and with the storm outside, a reminder
that Teddy could not survive out in the elements on his own.
He checked out the bathroom, needing to pee.
The tub looked like a wooden barrel that had been coated in enough
varnish and lacquer to make it usable.
Teddy checked the stove one more time, making sure there was enough
fire before he went back to check on the water.
Not hot, but he wanted a bath.
Teddy thought of the next best thing.
He filled the tub about halfway, which wasn’t much. He tried to picture
Vince in this tub. Teddy could fit, but he would have to keep his knees
raised.
Vince might have to keep his knees right to his chest to stay in here.
He probably only took showers or jumped into the stream in the warmer
months.
 Little by little, Teddy boiled water using a big soup pot he found while
digging around in Vince’s small kitchen.
The little wood-burning stove was shockingly useful.
He didn’t end up getting the water hot, but a mild warm was the best he
could have hoped for as he climbed into the water, which went all the way
to his neck now that he’d filled the rest of the tub with hot water.
It wasn’t close to hot enough, but he sighed.
He hadn’t had a bath in forever. Had never realized he would miss them
until his brother gave him to Ian.
Teddy’s throat tightened.
James had been such an asshole about it. He’d always teased Teddy,
told him he would get sold off eventually.
Teddy never thought it would actually happen.
He thought maybe his father might stop it, keep Teddy close to home
and find him a proper mate.
Not sell him to the first abusive prick who rolled in with promises of
profits and money.
“Dad approved the match,” James had said, sneering at him, like he was
enjoying watching Teddy begging him for anything. “Took him long
enough to do it, in my opinion.”
Oddly enough, Ian didn’t have any money when he bargained with
James.
He’d made the promise of paying for Teddy after he got his house, he’d
said.
Teddy couldn’t believe it, even at the time, but his father had money,
and James didn’t care for him, so he supposed his dad trusted James to
negotiate for a proper fee.
He reached for the soap bar and a washcloth, scrubbing down as much
as he could without rubbing his skin raw.
Ian had no money and offered to buy Teddy through credit only.
Teddy had been there. He’d watched the whole thing with relief,
knowing his brother didn’t like him but figuring James wouldn’t want to
give away his own brother on a promise of future payment.
And James, laughingly, called Ian a loser with no prospects and gave
Teddy to him, mockingly telling Ian to pay for him when he got the chance.
 There had been no papers signed, no formal agreements made, and now
that Ian had new land and property, he wasn’t legally bound to pay for
anything.
James must be kicking himself somewhere for that. Dad was probably
fuming at how poorly his other son had haggled that shitty deal.
It was a small comfort that neither of them was getting what they
wanted.
James wouldn’t get paid, Dad would be angry at the loss of profit, and
Teddy…had to bear Ian’s bite for the rest of his life.
He dozed in the tub before coming awake at the high-pitched whistling
sound, remembering the fire.
He got up quickly, taking Vince’s towel, which smelled of old leather
and cedar, just like him, and he went to check on the stove.
It still burned, but Teddy added some dry logs to it, taking the kettle that
had been burning and going back to finish his bath.
He used the hot kettle water to top up his bathwater, pouring it around
himself and briefly feeling the soothing hot before it went back to simply
being barely warm.
He washed his hair and face before rinsing off and getting out, taking
his time, enjoying himself, again, since he knew this was not going to last.
He checked the fire again, still burning, and it was pitch-black outside,
the only company he had the howling wind.
How could dragons handle that?
The fact that there was a dragon out there at all, working so hard in the
cold, it shocked Teddy.
He knew not all dragons were rich.
But Teddy always had an idea in his head that dragons were better than
working themselves to the bone like that, suffering to keep food on the table
and a roof overhead.
Teddy’s father had resources, and his idea of not caring for his son was
still making sure that Teddy had a roof over his head, warm clothes, food,
and even Christmas and birthday cards that Teddy was sure he’d signed
reluctantly.
Even with his father ignoring him for the most part, Teddy’s life had
been a cakewalk compared to what Vince did.
Before his brother sold him, that is.
 Ian’s idea of treating his mates over the Christmas holiday was not
beating any of them while he drank and ate with his friends. Teddy had
served the food that day with the other mates, hungry while Ian and
Gregory and so many other wealthy dragons feasted.
It had been stupid, but on that day he’d missed his brother, he’d missed
his father, his home and the kitchen he’d worked in with the chef, even
though they did not miss him back.
Probably glad he was finally gone.
Teddy really needed to stop feeling sorry for himself. He had a small
break here, and he was going to be grateful for it. Vince didn’t want his
pipes to freeze, and that was an easy job to manage, so he was going to care
for the fire.
He knew he could read something, but he didn’t want to touch Vince’s
belongings. Teddy was eventually tempted by the radio, but all he got was
static.
He went to the door, glancing out the window.
So much snow.
He grabbed onto the spare scarf and thin, spring jacket that hung on a
hook, taking a deep breath and stepping outside.
He didn’t entirely close the door behind him, afraid of being locked out,
and he didn’t let go of the handle either.
Teddy had heard horror stories of humans who went out into storms just
to get turned around and completely lost ten feet away from safety, dying
from the cold.
That was not going to be him.
Fuck. He was already freezing. He definitely would have died out in
this, and Vince was out here somewhere.
“Hello?” he called, then called out louder, trying to be heard above the
wind.
“Hello! Are you out there?”
How could Vince smell the woodsmoke, much less see the cabin in
this? This was crazy.
A huffing, snorting sound suddenly seemed right beside him.
Teddy looked, half expecting to see Vince standing right there.
Instead…
A monster!
 Teddy screamed.
The bear was shocked into falling back a little. Its huge face had only
been inches away from his own.
Teddy lurched back in to the cabin, slamming the door shut and shoving
the heavy metal latch into place, locking it.
He didn’t feel cold anymore. Only the heavy slamming of his heart.
He stared at the door, waiting for the bear to bust in, looking for a meal.
More like a snack, but Teddy didn’t want to be that either.
The knob jiggled. Nothing.
Then a heavy banging sound, and Vince shouting on the other side.
Teddy blinked, relief, then terror hitting him as he rushed to the door.
 Chapter Four
Vince had no idea what was going on when he tried getting home and
realized the damn door was frozen shut on him.
But he was fairly certain there was another large animal nearby. A bear
from the smell of it, and with the storm, there was no telling how close it
was.
He banged on the door, hoping to get Teddy’s attention.
Perhaps the male could help melt the ice on the door and—
The door burst open.
Teddy, wearing his spring jacket and scarf, grabbed tightly to Vince’s
jacket, yanking him forward with a strength Vince was unaware humans
could possess.
“What is the matter?”
“There’s a bear out there!” Teddy slammed the door, sliding the bolt
into place, his dark eyes wide and fearful. “There’s a bear right there!”
Immediately, what those words meant hit Vince hard. He gripped tightly
to Teddy’s shoulders. “You went outside in that? What were you thinking?”
He was clearly in one piece, Vince scented no blood on him, but in that
moment, it hardly mattered because the male who nearly died in his arms
had admitted to going out in the cold, again, wearing clothing not fit for the
weather.
Again.
“You didn’t come back,” Teddy said, looking more dazed than
frightened now. “I didn’t go out far. I just…I called out to you, and then I
looked, and its face was right there!”
The fear came back, and Teddy shuddered.
He looked as though he was recalling a horrible memory.
Vince believed he saw what he saw.
“I smelled it out there.”
He looked back to the door, thinking.
“I’ll kill it.”
“What? No! Please don’t!”
Teddy grabbed his wrist, holding him as if he had any chance of
stopping Vince from going out there.
 Vince felt the snow still melting from his brows, beard and eyelashes.
He was cold and wet and wanted to kill something before he lost his nerve
to the cold.
“There is an oversized animal out there. The meat could be useful, and
I’ve caught nothing.”
“I…I know, but what if it’s got babies or something? You’re not
supposed to hunt anything with babies, right? I heard that.”
It was true, but with the meat shortage, Vince was tempted to not care.
“It’s not the right time of year for young, and if it’s a male, then all the
better.”
“Please, just…this once, let it go.”
Vince flinched away.
Teddy did not look at him, but it was clear to the both of them what
he’d said and how they were both taking it.
Let it go. Don’t do what you know you must.
This one time.
He shouldn’t. Teddy was a human, an unwanted guest, and if the storm
didn’t let up, they were going to need food for themselves, never mind the
home where Ian resided or the town he was supposed to be providing for.
But Teddy wasn’t asking for the bear. Not really.
It was for himself.
“Very well. This one time I will…turn the other cheek, but if it sniffs
out food and keeps coming here—”
“I know, I know.” Teddy exhaled a deep sigh, smiling up at him.
“Thank you so much.”
“Don’t thank me.” Vince was in no mood to be thanked for anything.
He was exhausted, had caught nothing, and now the night was wasted. “If it
returns, I will not hesitate to kill it in front of you. Bears can be dangerous,
even to dragons and especially to humans.”
“Right, sorry,” Teddy said.
Vince sighed. “Have you eaten yet?”
“Oh, yes, I took another roll and some more of your dried fruits, thank
you.”
“I meant dinner.”
Teddy blinked at him as if he didn’t understand.
Of course.
 Vince rubbed at his eyes. The light in his cabin flickered, the only
source coming from his stove and the various candles lit around him.
“I have powdered potatoes and canned salmon with beans. I don’t know
if there is any stew left.”
Which was his fault. He thought he was coming out of the winter, not
going into a freak storm. His reserves weren’t normally so dry, but now
when he needed more…
“Oh! Oh, thank you so much, but you don’t have to keep feeding me.”
This human was going to be the death of his poor, aching heart.
“Yes, I do. Now sit down while I prepare you something.”
“But now you’re soaked through,” Teddy said, quickly stepping in his
way. “Please, you were out all day. Let me make something, and you can
change into dry clothes or have a bath.”
“The hot water is on?”
“No, but I boiled a few pots of water and set it into your tub. It did the
trick.”
That was resourceful, and though Vince knew a hot shower or bath was
out of his reach, he did wish to clean up.
It felt wrong, human or no, to have his guest cooking for him, but Vince
was so tired, and his laziness after a long, disappointing hunt called to him.
“Very well, but I will be out shortly.”
He showed Teddy where the potatoes were, the ghee, canned and
preserved goods and left the man to it.
He’d likely been bored by himself, and Vince didn’t have the patience
to comfort him if Teddy was concerned there would be a punishment for not
having dinner waiting or something.
He sat in his tub, after a terrible amount of time filling it to the point
where the water would not simply be frozen.
He just wanted to get clean. This was not a relaxing bath.
But that did not stop his hand from wandering down, his cock hard,
pulsing now that he was out of the cold and Teddy was out there.
Those wide, green eyes of his, so soft to stare into, his lips pink from
the cold, eyelashes wet, was enough to make Vince clench his jaw as he
closed his eyes, giving himself over to the pleasure.
Teddy was a beautiful human, that much was certain, even with his
bruises.
 He tightened his grip, twisting his fist around the shaft of his cock.
Vince didn’t dare make a noise. Humans did not have the same sense of
smell as shifters did, so Teddy would not know what Vince did in here so
long as Vince kept quiet.
He thought about how those eyes might look, how Teddy’s lips might
taste if Vince were to kiss him.
An idea that would be kept as a fantasy and nothing more. Not only was
Teddy not in any situation to be accepting his advances, but he belonged to
another male.
Taking him would only spell disaster for the quiet life Vince had built
for himself.
But he couldn’t stop himself either. He couldn’t stop thinking about
how Teddy’s mouth might look wrapped around his cock, about the sounds
he would make when Vince did the same to him.
Vince pressed his lips together, his dick jerking in his hand, his smaller
brain clearly on board with these images he conjured.
It had been a long winter, and it was clearly clinging to life for a while
longer. It had been months since Vince had lain with someone, and worse,
nearly a week since he’d touched himself.
Work had been stressful as he sought out the deer and moose and
anything else that could be used for food.
Now, as he fucked into his hand, reaching up and touching his nipples,
water sloshing around him as his cock and balls felt so tight…he wished he
hadn’t held off. He wished he’d flown to a brothel when the weather had
turned. Wished he’d at least taken care of himself before it could get to the
point of him fantasizing about a runaway human he had no business
thinking of like this.
Teddy would be on his knees. He would grip Vince’s hips, his head
bobbing enthusiastically around Vince’s cock and—
Vince bit down on a heavy groan, his release catching him hot and
heavy, some of it landing on his chest, but he wasn’t through.
Vince stroked himself through the aftershocks of it, gasping for breath
when the orgasm didn’t grip him so tightly.
He sat there for a moment, gathering himself back together.
He frowned at the mess he made on his chest, washing it away and
getting out of the little tub before Teddy noticed something was wrong.
 He smelled food now anyway, so he had to get back out there.
Teddy stood at the stove, stirring something that steamed together
nicely.
Teddy glanced back at him, a shy smile that immediately had Vince
feeling all kinds of guilty for what he’d just done.
“Dinner is nearly ready,” he said, still stirring what was in the pot.
One of the cans of salmon was open, and it looked as though Teddy was
using the last of the rolls.
“What did you make?”
He wasn’t expecting anything grand, and he was surprised at what
Teddy managed to put together.
Yes, he was using the instant potatoes, but in another bowl, it looked as
though he’d managed to turn the salmon into a sort of sandwich mix with
the mayo and last bit of onion and some salt and pepper.
“I found a can of corn, too,” Teddy said, still sounding uncertain as he
pulled it off the counter. Vince hadn’t noticed it.
“I thought this could be another side for your potatoes?”
His cupboards weren’t that bare, but as the winters typically dragged
on, Vince got used to eating foods that didn’t always go together, so to
speak.
This looked like a well-rounded meal.
“That’s fine. Make sure you have equal helpings.”
Teddy blushed nicely, nodding. “Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“Stop calling me sir,” Vince grumbled. It was too strange hearing that
when he’d just finished jerking off to the thought of this man.
Teddy quickly agreed to that as well, plating their small salmon
sandwiches, mashed potatoes and corn.
Together, they went back to the couch to eat quietly again.
Sitting next to Teddy, Vince didn’t know what exactly his problem was,
but he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to fill the silence. To hear more
of his voice.
“You won’t have to worry about food. The cupboards are stocked, but
after a while, things get mismatched.”
“I know, and thank you. I know you don’t have to share.”
What exactly was Ian doing to his mates? The more Teddy spoke, the
more irritated Vince became.
 “I do share, and I always will, but what I mean is, you did a good job
with this. Usually, at the end of the winter, I’m eating canned beans with
maybe some fish I caught and sliced apples for dessert.”
“That doesn’t sound bad.”
To a male who wasn’t allowed to eat much, it probably wasn’t.
“I suppose not, but I know most households are used to more…put
together dinners.”
Not just scraps of whatever was left over.
“There is more than enough oatmeal, sugar, dried nuts, powdered milk,
potatoes and flour, so what I mean is you will not be hungry while you are
with me.”
Which was likely going to be over by tomorrow. The storm couldn’t
possibly stick around for another day.
Teddy smiled softly, digging into his potatoes and corn.
Vince asked if he wanted more, complimenting the food.
It was delicious, despite Teddy’s limited recourses.
“I used to cook back home, before my brother…I helped cooked for
him and my dad. You’ve actually got a lot to work with. Don’t worry, I
wasn’t judging you.”
Vince felt himself puffing up a little. Had he been worried about that?
“Well, either way, it was delicious. Normally I would eat the tuna or
salmon right out of the can, not make…this.”
He gestured to their empty plates, where the spread had once been.
“I should teach you how to put some things together before I go back,”
Teddy said.
He didn’t sound sad about it, more resigned to his face.
Vince didn’t like that either.
He went back for seconds when Teddy insisted he’d eaten his fill. Vince
didn’t know what Teddy had done to the potatoes, but he loved them, and
he ate everything left over while Teddy watched the fire.
Vince put the kettle on the wood burner, and they drank tea together.
It was almost domestic. As if they had done this a thousand times
before and were silently enjoying each other’s company in romantic
candlelight.
Vince couldn’t stop looking at Teddy’s lips.
At the healing cut, the fullness of his bottom lip.
 All of it.
“I will turn in to bed,” Vince said, putting aside his mug.
If he wasn’t careful, he would get hard again and trapped as they were,
that could only lead to trouble.
“Right, sorry. I’ll blow out the candles.”
“Keep them on. There’s no point in blowing them out just yet but the
fire crackling. You can read or something.”
Vince proceeded to blow out only the candles that were nearest to his
bed. The ambient light was making him a little tired, but he was going to
need total darkness to sleep.
Hopefully, without thinking about Teddy’s beautiful mouth.
Vince got into bed.
After the day he had, it felt great.
Would feel even better if there was somebody in bed with him.
Despite his instructions, Teddy went about blowing out every candle.
He put another log into the wood-burning stove, but then he settled himself
on the couch.
Vince turned away from him, making himself comfortable.
He shouldn’t be thinking this. He shouldn’t be tempted like this.
He was lonely. That was the only reason.
When Teddy was sent back to Ian, everything would go back to normal.
Vince could make a trip into town and visit a brothel if he really wanted to.
Only now, he didn’t know how he was supposed to go back to his
regular, quiet life. A life of not wondering or caring about how much food
the humans ate.
About how Ian treated them.
Vince was never the kind of man to have a problem falling asleep.
Tonight seemed to be an exception to every rule.
He tossed and turned beneath his covers, smelling Teddy from where he
lay on the couch.
Teddy smelled like him. He smelled the way Vince thought he would
smell.
It was because he was wearing Vince’s clothes. That was the only thing
that made sense.
Having Teddy smell like him was doing all kinds of bad things to
Vince’s brain.
 Teddy sighed heavily, apparently also struggling with getting to sleep.
“Are you too hot over there?” Vince asked without looking toward
Teddy.
He was a little close to the wood-burning stove, after all.
That thing could keep the whole cabin nice and toasty, but Vince had
never slept directly beside it before. At least not when it had been burning.
“I’m all right, thanks.,“ Teddy said in his small voice.
But then they both went back to tossing and turning again.
This was insane. What the hell was wrong with him that he couldn't get
a bit of shut-eye?
The winter of being alone and suddenly one human in his sights was all
it took for him to lose control?
All it took for him to debate stealing something, someone, that
absolutely did not belong to him.
Why did he want this human so badly?
Then, to his infinite horror, Vince picked up the scent of something else.
Something very distinct.
The scent of arousal. Not his own.
It was coming from Teddy.
No. No, he was just imagining this. He wasn’t smelling what he thought
he was smelling. Vince was just being hopeful because he wanted Teddy so
badly. He wanted to fuck the man. He wanted to hear Teddy moaning for
him, the man’s legs wrapped around his waist.
But didn’t mean Teddy wanted it in return.
With the way Ian had treated him, it was likely he might not ever want
anything like that again.
Except Teddy exhaled a heavy breath, suddenly sitting up.
Vince heard it, and he sat up quickly as well, confirming with his eyes
what he already knew.
Teddy approached him, his fists clenched and his eyes determined.
Vince watched the man. He waited for Teddy to come to his senses, for
something to happen that would make all of this right.
Instead, Teddy put his knee onto the bed, leaning toward Vince, his
hands pressing to Vince’s shoulders.
“Let’s get this over with.”
That was not what Vince expected to hear. “What?”
 Teddy didn’t give him a chance to say anything else. His mouth was
suddenly on Vince’s, kissing him with wild abandon.
And Vince was only too happy to give in.
 Chapter Five
Teddy climbed into Vince’s lap. He was broader and felt more solid
than Ian had, and his hands on Teddy’s waist, pulling him closer, didn’t
elicit that same sense of fear or pain he got whenever Ian touched him.
Being on top like this was something Ian would never tolerate.
The guy loved to dominate and to make it as humiliating as possible
when he did it.
Vince kissed him as if Teddy was an active participant, not as if he was
a warm body, and his compliance was expected.
And Teddy loved it. He almost forgot what it was like to be kissed like
this. To be kissed like he was desirable.
He felt Vince’s cock, stiff beneath the waist of the clean sweatpants
he’d changed into after his bath. He smelled like Irish Spring soap and clean
skin, and his beard felt nice around Teddy’s mouth.
He could barely grow any stubble, but he loved guys with beards,
especially ones like what Vince had. Not too long, and despite his job and
living space, not shaggy and unkempt either.
Ian’s face was smooth. Luckily, Teddy didn’t have to kiss him too
often, and he moaned as Vince opened his lips, letting Teddy inside, giving
him even that amount of control.
Teddy took his time in the kiss, his dick swelling between his legs. He
started canting his hips forward so their cocks could find each other even
through their pants, and the friction could—
“Stop, stop.”
Vince pushed Teddy back just enough that their beautiful kiss was
broken, and so was the dreamy mood.
“What’s the matter?”
“You’re mated to another dragon.”
A sour taste filled his mouth. “I won’t tell him.”
“It’s not right.”
Teddy struggled to not take that personally.
Vince was right. Teddy belonged to someone else, whether he liked it or
not. He was being way too slutty, too presumptuous, grinding his cock
against Vince’s. Just because he was a dragon of the land didn’t mean he
wouldn’t have some standards.
It broke his heart that he couldn’t even have this.
One night to forget about his stupid fucking life, about Ian.
“I know…I know that I’m just here for a little while. I don’t expect
anything from you for this.”
Vince said nothing. He listened intently, however, giving Teddy enough
courage to keep going.
“You can take me. I want you to take me.” Teddy leaned in, pleased
when Vince allowed Teddy to kiss him. Sweet and chaste on the lips before
pulling back, looking into his eyes.
Teddy knew he had the man. Vince might hesitate, but he wanted this.
With just one more push.
“Did you really think you could touch yourself in the bath and not make
me want you?”
Vince’s dark blue eyes flew wide, his nostrils flaring as Teddy began
gently grinding their cocks together again.
“Please.”
Vince moaned, his arms tightening around Teddy’s waist, holding him
close as he kissed Teddy firmly, with the sort of claim only a dragon shifter
could make.
Finally. Finally.
This was what Teddy wanted, and he let himself be swept away by the
pleasure of it as he and Vince quickly threw off their clothes, getting
beneath the fur covers.

****

He absolutely should not be doing this.

This was by and large the worse mistake Vince could be making, but
Teddy tasted sweet. He tasted of the baked apple with cinnamon they’d had
for dessert.
And Vince was completely lost to him. There was nothing he could do
but kiss, taste, and touch.
He pulled Teddy closer to him, enjoying the way the human moaned
against his mouth.
 Teddy clearly did not like his mate, and it was obvious from the outset
that Ian wasn’t exactly worried for his wellbeing.
This couldn’t last, but that did not mean they couldn’t have tonight.
As Vince peeled himself out of his clothes, easily stripping Teddy, with
his enthusiastic assistance, since all the clothing he wore belonged to Vince
and were far too large for his smaller, human body.
Teddy seemed to breathe a sigh of relief when he was free of Vince’s
oversized shirt. A smile, a real smile pulling at his lips for probably the first
time since Vince had met him.
Nothing forced or awkward or shy about it.
“Kiss me,” Teddy demanded.
Vince was only too happy to obey.
In the darkness of his cabin, in the furs on his bed, the fire still
crackling in his tiny, wood-burning stove, Vince would have to be blind to
not notice the romance of the air around him.
He decided not to think about it. This was going to be nothing more
than a fond memory for the both of them in the morning, but with the way
the light glowed and flickered golden across Teddy’s pale skin, Vince was
almost able to allow himself to believe the magic of the night could last.
He kissed his way from Teddy’s mouth to his jaw, down his throat and
chest.
Teddy’s body jerked.
Vince looked up.
“Sorry, ticklish,” Teddy said, looking away and shrugging.
Even now, even when there was something he wanted, he was clearly
still shy.
“My apologies,” Vince said, unable to resist sliding his beard across
Teddy’s ribs, loving the way the male jerked and shuddered. “Was this what
made you ticklish?”
Teddy tried to glare at him, but there wasn’t nearly enough heat to it to
make it effective.
“Yeah, that,” he said.
Vince kept right on smiling at him as he returned to the task at hand.
Much as he would like to keep kissing and stroking his little human
with his beard, there was another part of him Vince would much rather be
stroking.
 Teddy seemed to realize it, too. As Vince moved lower and lower,
Teddy gasped, suddenly clutching Vince’s shoulders.
“W-wait.”
Vince barely looked up at him, his hand taking hold of Teddy’s cock.
His palm was big enough that the hard shaft of Teddy’s cock practically
vanished in his grip.
“Yes?”
Teddy stared at him with confusion and concern in his dark eyes as
though he couldn’t believe this was happening.
“Are you seriously…you don’t have to.”
Vince wasn’t detecting any true desire from Teddy for him to stop.
“Why not?”
He knew why. Some nonsense about Teddy being a human and how
dragons did not do that to humans.
But it seemed Teddy was still too shy to put his protest into words.
“You wanted me. You’re going to have me,” Vince said, sinking his
whole mouth around Teddy’s cock.
Teddy exhaled a heavy sigh, his spine going stiff, hands gripping tightly
to Vince’s hair as he began softly thrusting his dick deeper into his mouth.
Vince was more than happy to allow it. In fact, he preferred it. There
was something to be said about feeling the distinct pleasure of a lover as
they lost themselves to what Vince did to them.
He’d worried he would be rusty, that it had been so long since he’d
been intimate with anyone that he would surely fumble.
That seemed to not be something he needed to worry about if the
evidence presented was anything to go by.
Teddy’s cock was a nice fit into his mouth as well. He’d come across
some well-endowed humans, but even the hung males were nothing
compared to dragons.
Teddy’s prick was just right. His cock wasn’t small for a human, but
there was enough to him that Vince had to focus on relaxing his jaw.
Teddy’s cock couldn’t quite reach the back of his throat, but it was damn
near close.
“Oh God, oh please, please, please,” Teddy begged, his hands suddenly
painfully tight in Vince’s hair as he moaned hard and heavy, thrusting up in
one hard motion and coming.
 His seed definitely hit the back of Vince’s throat, and he did have to
keep his focus to swallow it down.
“Fuck!” Teddy cried out, still thrusting, his dick jerking, still moving
like a wild thing, as if he was releasing every last bit of pleasure he’d been
pent up with and all the stress of living with Ian.
When he relaxed, it seemed to be for only a second. Vince no sooner
pulled his mouth away from Teddy’s dick, and the man sat up quickly.
“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t…here, your turn.”
Vince stopped him, grabbing Teddy’s hands as they reached for Vince’s
very hard, very desperate cock.
Teddy froze, looking at Vince with something close to fear in his eyes
as Vince leaned forward.
“You please me, so stop panicking,” he said, kissing Teddy on the
mouth softly, feeling the man’s whole body become less tense.
As if he was melting.
“There is nothing for you to fear.”
And if Vince had it his way, Teddy would get hard again in a moment
anyway.
Teddy swallowed hard, nodding. “Thank you. I just…that was great. I
didn’t mean to come so fast.”
“You will come many times tonight.”
Red flushed up Teddy’s neck so quickly it was all Vince could do to
keep himself from laughing at the sight.
He was adorable. How could any dragon ever wish harm on this man?
Do not think on that.
Vince pushed away those terrible ideas. Of what Teddy had gone
through with Ian, of how beautiful he was, and how much it was going to
make Vince ache to watch Ian take him back.
Because Vince knew he would not be the one to give Teddy back, but
Ian would eventually catch on. Teddy could not hide here forever.
“Are you…okay?” Teddy asked.
Vince yanked himself out of the stupor he found himself sinking into.
He put his whole focus back on the willing male in his bed, kissing
Teddy soundly on the mouth, feeling him melt against Vince’s body once
more.
 Vince loved it. He loved leaning forward, the way Teddy’s thighs
spread for him, allowing him inside.
Vince moaned when the length of his cock slid against Teddy’s ass.
He didn’t linger on Teddy’s hole. Not yet. He wanted this first.
“You want this?” Vince asked. “You want my dick inside you?”
Teddy nodded, chest rising and falling with his heavy breathing. Their
faces were so close that the heat of their breath mingled between them.
“Take me. Please.”
Vince would. He would take very good care all right.
Normally, he was alone for this part, so Vince kept the lubricant that
was useful beneath his thin mattress.
He pulled it free. Teddy made no comment on it, sighing and stroking
Vince’s shoulders, watching intently as he slicked his fingers.
“Relax for me, sweetheart.”
“Not a virgin,” Teddy mumbled, turning away when he realized what
he’d said.
Vince didn’t take it personally, but he did get a little sad.
No. Teddy was definitely no virgin.
He pressed his fingers to Teddy’s hole. He wasn’t too tight, suggesting
Ian didn’t make common use of his body.
Silver linings, that. Vince still took it slow, circling his fingers around
the man’s pucker, stroking him, encouraging him to open for him before
Vince pressed his fingers forward.
Teddy sighed, his back arching as his hole opened for Vince.
Seeing that made it so difficult to hold back. Vince’s cock pulsed, hard
and dark and desperate.
It didn’t take much now that Vince was here. He smiled, letting Teddy’s
body accept him as he pushed deeper and deeper.
“That’s…nice,” Teddy said.
Vince snorted a laugh. “I should hope so. That’s the point.”
Teddy gave Vince another of his true smiles, and Vince thought he
might die from the shock of feeling that hit him in the heart.
He smiled back, kissing Teddy on the mouth again as he pushed his
fingers back and forth, gentle scissoring them inside, noting how Teddy’s
cock slowly plumped back up. Half hard at first, and then throbbing and
dark, pointing accusingly up at him.
 “Oh God,” Teddy moaned, openly and wantonly thrusting his ass
against Vince’s fingers, making his dick bounce just a little.
“F-fuck me, please. I need it.”
Vince didn’t need any more of an invitation than that, and he was in no
mood to wait any longer either.
He pulled his fingers back, taking Teddy’s knees and lifting them,
exposing his hole while Teddy tested his legs over Vince’s elbows.
“Hurry,” Teddy begged, his face still flushed. “Please, oh God, hurry.”
Vince didn’t exactly hurry, but he wasn’t slow about his first forward
thrust either.
And Teddy’s body was so tight around his cock. Vince bottomed out
quickly, Teddy’s hole clenching tight around the whole of his shaft.
It was almost too much, and suddenly Vince found he was the one
struggling to keep from coming.
“That’s it. Move, please move. Fuck me.”
Vince grit his teeth.
He was going to come quickly, but it looked as though Teddy would as
well.
And they did have all night, after all.
Vince began to move. He kept it as slow as his lust-clouded brain would
allow, but Teddy’s moaning, and the motion of his hips as he thrust back
against Vince, was almost enough to make him shoot his load right then and
there.
“So good. So…oh fuck, that’s so good. Please,” Teddy moaned. He
reached up and grabbed onto Vince’s neck. “Kiss me, please.”
Teddy really seemed to enjoy kissing.
Vince leaned forward, practically bending the man in half as he buried
his dick deep inside and gave exactly what Teddy demanded of him.
Teddy moaned and squirmed beneath him, his hole tightening
pleasantly around Vince’s cock. Vince felt his balls tighten and rise.
He picked up speed, fucking into Teddy harder.
So perfect. So lovely. All the things Vince wanted to tell Teddy but
could not because it would imply something he didn’t dwell on.
The pressure in his thighs was suddenly there, and Vince knew there
was no going back as he made his bed frame squeal for mercy.
“Baby, I’m going to come.”
 “Come inside me. Please, do it,” Teddy huffed.
And his words, so commanding, his lips so red and plump…drove
Vince over the edge as he leaned in and kissed Teddy hard on the mouth.
Teddy moaned as Vince gently bit down on his bottom lip, and he might
have said something, but Vince couldn’t be sure what that something was as
he found himself fucking hard and fast into Teddy, his orgasm right there,
and then…
He shot right over the edge. Like a car sailing over a cliff, or flying high
just to fold in his wings and letting himself drop as far as he dared before
spreading them wide one more time and catching a current of wind.
Vince roared, spilling deep inside Teddy’s body, and then still fucking
him hard and fast because he had no choice in the matter.
“V-Vince! Oh fuckyeahthatfeelssogoodVince!”
Teddy threw his head back, shouting through his second orgasm.
And it was just as powerful as the first. Vince could tell, even though he
hadn’t caught it with his mouth.
Mainly because of the force and pressure his seed had hit Vince in the
chest with.
The little Teddy had gotten onto his own chest… well, Vince was like
an animal in that moment.
He leaned in and licked it away.
“H-holy shit,” Teddy muttered, his hand lazily coming to rest in Vince’s
hair. “Th-that was…”
Vince looked up at him, meeting those dark eyes as Teddy blushed and
smiled, showing all the whites of his teeth.
“That was fucking amazing.”
Vince grinned back. “Thank you for the feedback because you and I are
doing that again.”
“Yes, please,” Teddy said, nodding, wiggling his ass a bit, making
Vince gasp with the remains of his own pleasure, his cock still sensitive,
still buried inside.
The way Teddy looked at him told Vince that his little human knew
exactly what he was doing.
Vince growled at him. “I hope you’re not expecting any sleep tonight
because you won’t get it,” he said, rolling his hips.
 Teddy shook his head, and somehow, his cock was already half hard as
Vince moved inside him. “Good.”
 Chapter Six
They really did spend the whole night making love.
That’s what it felt like to Teddy. He wanted to have sex with Vince
because he knew the man had to be good in bed.
There was no way a guy could be by himself out in the middle of the
woods, with a body like that, and not have some skills.
Still, Teddy was not expecting the sheer amount of attention that Vince
gave to him.
He hoped to have an orgasm or two. He didn’t even expect them to be
all that great.
Teddy just wanted to be touched and held and kissed as if he wasn’t a
sex doll.
Even if they were both using each other in the end.
But it wasn’t the case. For something that was supposed to be
meaningless sex, it left Teddy with a sense of intense satisfaction.
Vince didn’t just give him a couple of orgasms. The man seemed
absolutely determined that Teddy was going to have the time of his life. As
if it was Vince’s mission to make sure the little freeloader in his house had
awesome sex.
The fire crackled, and the wind kicked up again outside, but Teddy
hardly noticed it when they got to their fifth time around.
It was closing in on morning. Even with the darkness outside, Teddy
could tell.
He was also starting to get tired. Vince had seemed so sure of himself
that they would go the entire night, and Teddy supposed they had, but by
the last time they were together, it was almost too much.
Teddy was slowly riding Vince’s cock.
The frantic, desperate need for orgasm fucking that they had done
previously had melted away.
It left them with only enough energy for this. Teddy’s hands on Vince’s
shoulders, looking into his eyes as he rocked his hips and clenched his hole
around Vince’s perfect cock.
“There you go. Ride me. Just like that baby.”
 Teddy grit his teeth. It felt so good. Even now. Even when he thought
he should have no more pleasure in him left to have, Vince seemed to
gently ease it out of him.
Teddy was close to dozing off even, but it was Vince's hands on his
hips, his words, and the way he licked his lips that kept him awake.
The gentle pleasure was also good.
“Fuck… Feels so good.”
“Touch your cock for me, honey. Make yourself come.”
Teddy moaned and did as he was told. After so many orgasms already,
it took a little more effort to bring this last one out of him.
A little. Not much.
“That’s it. Just like that, honey. Make yourself come for me.”
“Oh!” Teddy wanted that. His hips began to move faster, almost against
as will. As if he was an animal.
And maybe he felt a little like a dragon himself in that moment.
Teddy came with a shout. The cabin being out in the middle of nowhere
helped him with the sounds he could make.
Sex before was something either done secretively or with Ian, where
Teddy didn’t want anyone hearing that.
With Vince, not only did it feel fucking amazing, but Teddy could moan
and wail to his heart’s content as the shocks of his pleasure rushed through
him.
So good. So fucking amazing. He didn’t even have the words for it, and
when he was boneless and slumped against Vince’s chest, he felt dazed.
As if he was already dreaming.
It felt a little like Vince was kissing his shoulder. Teddy liked that.
He wished he could stay here forever, could fuck this man forever, but
his stupid eyelids refused to stay open.
The next morning was really more like early afternoon. Teddy only
knew that because the ticking clock on the wall told him it was damn near
one in the afternoon.
Vince wasn’t in bed with him, but Teddy jumped up all the same, the air
a little chilled around his naked body now that he was no longer bundled up
in those soft furs.
The fire was going, but it was in the stages of death.
 Wrapping one of Vince’s furs around him, Teddy added more wood to
the fire and stoked it.
Then he went and sat back in bed because he liked how it smelled like
him and Vince together.
That, and if Vince was going to get Ian, then Teddy wanted to spend as
much time as he could get away with in this comfortable bed.
Ian’s bed was plush and full of pillows and bedsheets, a lot of which
seemed decorative.
Not his style, apparently, as everything in the house had belonged to the
former owner.
Either way, that bed always felt cold. Too big. Like the canopy above
him would fall and swallow him up.
The one time he tried cuddling with Ian, he got slapped really hard for
being clingy.
Vince had held him all night.
Teddy smiled, feeling warm inside.
He’d slept through it, but he was sure that’s what happened.
The door opened, a flurry of icy wind coming with it before Vince
could shut it quickly.
Ian was not with him.
Vince looked at him, removing his scarf and gloves. Snow and frost
clinging to his eyelashes and beard.
Teddy wanted to go over there and kiss it all off him.
Vince smiled. “You’re awake.” He looked to the fire. “Did the cold
wake you? I tried to keep the fire well fed before leaving.”
He was so sweet. Teddy could almost pretend…
“No, I was fine, thanks. Slept in way too late to be honest.”
He wouldn’t be getting away with that when it was time for him to go
back.
He did not say that. Teddy wasn’t about to get into the pity party or
guilt Vince into doing something that would ultimately hurt him.
Even if he could do it.
But Vince looked to be in a good mood all right.
“I bagged a buck.”
Teddy blinked, and he grinned back. “Really? That’s great!”
 Vince nodded. “Rules changed when Ian came. I no longer get first cut
of the meat, but it’s a storm. He can hardly blame me for taking some for
myself, right?”
Teddy shook his head. “Not at all. It’s only expected with weather like
this.”
Teddy glanced outside, shocked to see that…it wasn’t snowing.
Knowing the terrible weather was the only thing keeping him here, a
thrill of fear suddenly gripped him.
Vince seemed to understand where his thoughts went.
“The wind out there is terrible, and the clouds are still thick. I’m not
flying back to Ian in that, so don’t worry,” he said, turning away, not
looking at Teddy. “You have more time.”
There was no snow, but Vince was right. It was still heavily gray out,
and the wind still rattled the cabin.
He relaxed a little.
“How do you even go out in that? I wouldn’t be able to take it.”
He only hoped Ian didn’t try keeping him out in it as punishment when
he was returned.
“Dragons can handle the cold somewhat better than you humans, but
flight is a different thing. Never a good idea to fly into a windstorm. Or any
storm.”
Teddy supposed that made sense.
“My dad and brother never flew on windy days,” he said.
Vince looked at him. “You’re related to dragons?”
“Yeah, why?”
Vince stared at him. Teddy didn’t like it, that piercing gaze.
Then it clicked, what Vince was worried about.
“Oh…we didn’t use any protection.”
Human males with dragon blood in them could incubate dragon eggs.
They couldn’t birth them, though. The eggshells would shatter and kill
the bearer.
Even human women with dragon blood couldn’t birth the egg the old-
fashioned way.
They had to be cut open. Humans bearing dragon children was
dangerous for that reason alone, even if there was a dragon willing to assist
with the birth.
 And should the egg crack before the child was ready to even be born…
well, that was a disaster waiting to happen.
“It was just that one time. It shouldn’t mean anything.”
“I should hope not!” Vince put his hands over his face, then gripped the
hair on his head, as if he really had not thought of that all of last night and
today while he was out hunting.
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Teddy said, feeling calm when he knew he
shouldn’t. “Because the next time we fuck, we’ll use something.”
It was only once. And he was mated to another dragon.
No fucking way was God that cruel to him.
Vince grumbled under his breath, then blinked, catching what Teddy
had said.
“Next time?”
Teddy squashed down the insecurities that rushed him. Confident.
That’s what he was, and he was going to fake this shit until it felt real.
“Sure, I mean, what else are we going to do. Except eat and sleep? Got
one more day, might as well make the most of it.”
Teddy could practically see the calculating way Vince looked at him.
Teddy rolled his eyes. “Look, my mother was a human, and she died
because my egg cracked inside her. I’m not about to let that happen to me.”
“So your father really was a dragon?”
Teddy nodded, hating himself for giving so much away.
He didn’t want to get into this, didn’t want Vince to feel sorry for him
when they had so little time to have any fun.
“Yeah. They thought I would be, too. Seeing as I was incubating in a
dragon egg and everything, but…yeah. She died, and it was for nothing.”
Teddy clenched his hands to fists, James’s words coming back out of
nowhere and hitting him hard.
“She died for another worthless human. Least it would have meant
something if you’d been a dragon.”
He grit his teeth. James wasn’t here, and for better or worse, Teddy was
never going to see his half-brother ever again. He wasn’t sure the trade-off
was a good one, though. He’d rather have his idiot brother and his cruel
words over anything Ian tried to force on him.
Vince was in his space.
 Teddy blinked, jerking in surprise. He looked up, wondering when the
man had suddenly crossed the room.
Teddy was suddenly aware that he was still naked under the furs. He
held them tighter to himself.
Maybe Vince wanted Teddy to suck him off?
Before he could reach for Vince’s still-cold pants, Vince dropped to his
knees.
“Did your family sell you to Ian?”
Teddy’s throat suddenly got painfully tight.
Don’t say it. It didn’t matter. His brother hated him, and he hadn’t seen
his father for almost a year before James got rid of him.
His dad approved of the match anyway. He had to for Ian to take him.
But his eyes burned. Teddy’s felt his face twisting up against his will,
and without wanting to, he nodded.
“Yeah,”
The word was a quiet, broken croaking sound, and there was nothing he
could do except press his face into Vince’s shoulder and let it all out.
Vince held him, not saying anything, stroking his back and letting
Teddy cry his heart out for the first time since he’d been given away by his
only family.
 Chapter Seven
It wasn’t uncommon for humans to be sold off. Either by other humans
or the dragon families they were born into.
Vince was still horrified.
The cruelty behind this was so outrageous he almost couldn’t believe it
was real.
Most dragons, should they produce any humans at all brought about
through years of mixed breeding and recessive genes, typically found
suitable mates for their human children.
Mates who would provide and protect. Certainly, the humans were still
expected to bear the young and do some chores, but to be thoughtlessly sold
to someone so cruel…
Vince couldn’t bear it.
He held tightly to Teddy, letting the man sob himself dry against
Vince’s shoulder.
Vince got the feeling he hadn’t allowed himself to do this in a long
time.
It took some minutes before Teddy calmed himself enough where his
tears were…mostly dry, but his cries had softened to a broken, hiccuping
breathing.
Vince pulled back, noting Teddy’s red eyes. The little human would not
look back at him as he sniffed and wiped his eyes.
“Sorry.”
Vince didn’t know what to say to that.
Instead, he stepped back from the man.
He got the kettle and filled it with hot water before setting it on the
stove.
He then moved to his cupboard for some of his hidden stash of treats.
What he pulled out only when he was in a more foul mood.
He had two packets left. When the weather turned, he would have to fly
back to town, but for now, his little human needed this.
He felt Teddy watching him, likely curious as Vince scooped some milk
powder into the mugs, then opened the packets of hot chocolate and
dumped that powder inside as well.
 The kettle was steaming well enough that he could take it off the stove
quickly.
He fixed the drinks and brought them back to the bed.
Vince sat next to him, offering one of the mugs.
Teddy looked at it, then at Vince.
“Take it.”
Teddy did, staring into the contents as though he couldn’t believe what
he was seeing.
“Thank you.”
Vince blew into his cup, then nodded. “Think nothing of it.”
They drank their chocolate in silence, but it was helping. Hot drinks
were always what made Vince feel better.
He sighed. “My mother also passed.”
Teddy looked sharply at him. Vince forced himself to smile at the man.
“Not from birthing me, though she was also a human, like your mother.”
“Oh.” Teddy looked back into his mug before looking at Vince once
more. “How…sorry, never mind.”
“It’s all right.” Vince couldn’t believe he was talking about this at all.
“My father killed her. He was a cruel dragon the likes of which Ian would
surely find fearful.”
Teddy shuddered.
“I’ve tried to stay away from the humans for so long, and then you
came.”
Teddy held his mug with both hands. He stared off into the distance as
though trying to figure all of this out. Trying to make sense of it all.
“I understand losing a parent. I understand not respecting your own
family. That blood can hurt as well as heal.”
He just wished there was something he could do about it, something
more than give a small story.
But Teddy, to Vince’s shock, smiled at him in a way that made his
stomach flip.
Before Teddy could say anything, however, Vince picked up on a sound
outside, something Teddy didn’t hear right away, and it had Vince getting to
his feet and rushing to the door, throwing it open and stepping out into the
heavy wind and biting cold, slamming the door shut behind him just as Ian
came to land.
 Vince grit his teeth against the cold. He hadn’t stopped to grab his
gloves or scarf.
What the hell did he think he was doing? He wasn’t supposed to be
here.
Ian was dressed well, wearing goggles to protect his eyes from the
wind, bundled up nicely with the exception of his wings.
His jacket must have been custom-made for them, but as Ian stepped
forward, he didn’t smile.
Not in any way that suggested he knew what Vince was hiding,
however.
“Sir,” Vince said. “It’s dangerous to fly in this.”
“I needed to check with you. Did you find him?”
Of course, that was why he was here, but Vince did not relax.
This could be a trap.
Still, now was the time. Teddy was inside. Ian’s mate, one of many, was
found and had been recovering with Vince, waiting for Ian to retrieve him.
Ian could not get him into trouble. He’d rescued the male, after all.
Saved him from freezing to death and gave him warm food and clothing
while they waited for the storm to pass.
“Not yet, but I have been out hunting. If I find him, I will see to his care
and bring him to you straight away.”
Ian turned away from him, his lips pressing together in a hard line.
“He’s human. Stupid. Could a human survive the weather we’ve been
having?”
“Not likely,” Vince said.
He should say yes because it was possible. Humans survived all sorts of
things, especially before the dragons had taken over everything.
But if Ian thought Teddy was dead…there would be no need for Ian to
come around searching for him.
Still, he couldn’t have Ian searching for a body when this snow melted.
“Is it possible he made it to town and someone, believing themselves to
be helpful, gave him a ride farther out?”
Ian seemed to be thinking about that. “I suppose.”
He appeared…genuinely concerned, which was odd for Vince.
He didn’t think it was because Ian harbored some secret love for Teddy.
 Or, if it was love, it was a twisted, sick kind. The sort that had killed his
mother.
“If I may ask, sir, why would your mate run away from you?”
Ian looked at him, his gaze sharp as a knife. He shrugged. “Humans…
hardly loyal things, aren’t they?”
“Of course. Does he have family? Perhaps he was missing them.”
“He has no family,” Ian said sharply.
He pulled his goggles down and over his eyes, which for Vince, was a
blessing because it meant that he no longer had to deal with this.
Ian was getting ready to leave.
“If you find him, I don’t know, in a cave or something, find me right
away. I don’t care what the weather is. I’ve got men searching and asking
around the nearest town. I need to find him.”
Vince nodded.
His heart stopped when Ian eyed his small cabin, but then Ian’s nose
twisted as though deciding he would rather take an acid bath than step one
foot into Vince’s humble dwellings.
Ian spread his wings and jumped into the air.
As he went, Vince watched him for as long as he could until he
vanished in the low-hanging, gray clouds.
The wind pushing and pulling at Ian’s body made it a less than graceful
take off.
With luck, he would lose control and be injured on his return flight,
then Vince wouldn’t have to worry about him at all or his spontaneous
visits.
Still, his heart slammed when Ian vanished.
What the hell had he just done?
Vince turned and went back to his front door. Hiding the fact that he’d
caught a deer was the least of what he was doing wrong here.
He didn’t expect Ian to come around like that, and it had shocked him,
whether he liked it or not.
What was done was done, and Vince heaved a heavy sigh, opening the
door.
Teddy was not in bed. In fact, the bed was made, and there was no sign
that Teddy had been there at all.
 The mugs were put away into the sink, but Vince knew his little human
was not gone.
He was hiding in Vince’s small bathroom.
He knocked softly.
“Ian is gone.”
“He…what?” The muffled words on the other side of the door were
shocked.
The door suddenly opened, and there was Teddy, wearing the clothes,
now cleaned up, that he’d been wearing the day they met.
His bruising suddenly seemed so much more prominent. Now that
Vince had seen the male who put those marks on him, he felt filled with a
rage he only reserved for thoughts of his father.
When Teddy’s lower lip trembled, realization that Ian was not going to
collect him, Vince broke down, reaching for him, taking Teddy into his
arms and holding him.
Teddy melted against him as if he belonged there. As if it was meant to
be that he stay there.
His whole body trembled as he held tightly to Vince.
“Wh-why did you do that?”
Vince clenched his eyes shut.
A day. A day with his little human, and he was already lost. “I had to.”
Teddy made a choked noise, like the sound of an animal in pain as he
pulled back from him.
At first, Vince assumed Teddy saw the error of his ways and wanted to
put some distance between them.
No. Teddy reached up, cupping Vince’s face, and Vince was only too
happy to let himself be pulled down into a searing kiss.
Whatever he was doing, there was no going back from it.
Regardless of how far they took…this, Teddy would be staying here.
 Chapter Eight
The snow eventually came back, the wind staying as strong as ever for
another two days.
Which was fine. Vince seemed to have more than enough firewood, and
with the deer he’d bagged, along with the various other powdered goods
and spices he kept in his pantry, they didn’t want for delicious food.
Teddy insisted on doing the cooking. He didn’t know much about
cooking with so many dry ingredients, the chef back at his old home always
had fresh ingredients in stock, and Teddy typically helped with that, but he
found it wasn’t much different than what he was used to. Teddy found out
that Vince owned a cookbook or two that had clearly never been cracked
open, and since Teddy wanted to be useful, he started reading those.
He was freeloading in Vince’s house, basically setting up shop in his
life, so he wanted to do something for him. Show that he wasn’t just going
to be a bump on a log for however long Vince kept him.
Because, despite his chivalry, lying to his boss and all that, this was
always going to remain temporary.
Even if Vince somehow managed to keep Teddy hidden all winter, these
were now Ian’s lands. He would be flying overhead when things warmed
up, and Teddy couldn’t stay trapped in this cabin all the time.
Teddy promised himself that, no matter what, when he did go back, he
would make sure Vince got into no trouble.
Teddy would lie through his teeth about absolutely everything if he had
to. He had no idea what he could say to Ian to keep him from punishing
Vince, but Teddy would think of something.
It was almost domestic, the time they had together.
They woke up, ate breakfast, bathed together, which involved a lot of
kissing and touching, which Teddy enjoyed, then Vince would go off
hunting and fishing while Teddy tidied up the house and made plans for
what Vince’s dinner and dessert would be.
The man had so much more than he thought he did. With a little
planning, meals could actually be exciting. Even the canned stuff.
When Vince came back, usually around or after dark, once with a rabbit
and fish and another time with nothing, Teddy was always there waiting
with the cabin smelling of what he’d been cooking.
Vince seemed to like that.
They talked quietly, and Teddy learned more about Vince. Never mated,
how old he was when his mother died, his favorite drinks, all of that.
They actually shared things about each other.
Which was…dangerous and probably not the best idea in the world, but
Teddy loved it.
Especially when they spent their few nights together fucking into the
near morning.
Teddy really enjoyed that.
Vince rolled a condom onto his heavy cock, giving himself a mercy
stroke as he pulled Teddy into his arms. Teddy’s legs easily slid around
Vince’s waist, his hands stroking the male’s huge chest, looking up into his
eyes.
“Tell me if anything does not feel good,” he said.
As if he was terrified he could be as rough as Ian.
The fact that he was scared of such a thing and that Teddy was already
sure there was nothing to be concerned about made him fall in love with the
man a little.
When he went back to Ian, he was going to hold on to these days and
remember them for the rest of his life.
They would be the only things that would get him through the rest of
his life.
“Do you understand?”
Teddy’s dick was already dripping. He’d nod and agree to almost
anything right about now.
“I understand.”
He wanted to be touched. His hole felt empty, and all he could think
about was how amazing it would be to ride Vince’s cock again.
For now, he was on his back, in the furs and sheets Teddy had grown to
love. They were more careful with the furs, but the sheets needed washing
after every night with the way they both went at it.
Vince slid his heavy prick inside him. Teddy let his head fall back with
a soft sigh. Vince was starting off slow this time. That was all right with
Teddy. He didn’t mind that.
 Teddy pushed his hips back against Vince’s cock, encouraging him to
move a little faster if that was what he wanted, but Vince seemed
determined to keep to his own pace.
Steady and sweet. It really did feel like making love.
“Kiss me,” Teddy demanded, stroking Vince’s jaw, needing to feel that
awesome beard against his mouth again.
Vince grinned down at him as though knowing that was exactly what
Teddy was really asking for.
He leaned in and gave what Teddy demanded, his tongue pushing
between Teddy’s lips, but not obscenely. Not a commanding claim, but a
sharing of bodies.
Teddy moaned, the urge to reach down and stroke himself was insane,
but he had to hold back. He didn’t want to come too soon, and there was
something delightful about being brought to orgasm without touching
himself.
He’d only ever done that maybe once or twice, and he was still trying to
get to that point with Vince.
Though, he was so damned good, the way his dick dragged slowly
across Teddy’s prostate was enough to make him gasp with shivering
pleasure each time.
He had to grip tightly to Vince’s neck and shoulder because if he didn’t,
he was going to lose control and touch himself.
“Please, please, please,” Teddy begged.
“Please what, honey?” Vince said, thrusting forward and holding
position, his cock lingering against Teddy’s prostate for a just a second or
two before it was gone.
Fuck, Teddy loved it when Vince just threw around the sweet talk and
pet names.
It made him feel as if he…belonged here.
“Make me come,” Teddy gasped, heaving heavy breaths when Vince
began circling his hips, Teddy’s dick caught between their bodies, but there
was no touch quite hard enough to get him to that point. It was always a soft
tease.
“You want me to touch your cock?”
“I want your cock on…on that spot inside me.”
 God, he couldn’t even bring himself to say the word prostate. It
sounded too personal, which was ridiculous when Vince’s dick was inside
him, but he wasn’t being logical, and he didn’t feel like examining that
when Vince started thrusting a little harder, holding position for a fraction
of a second each time before he pulled back again.
“Oh! Oh fuck, Vince, oh!” Teddy moaned, his thighs trembling. He felt
it coming onto him, that release he was desperate for.
He dug his nails into Vince’s shoulders, forcing himself not to touch his
dick as Vince started to slam forward with heavy, powerful thrusts.
And then he was done. There was nothing for it. Teddy was completely
and totally lost to the pleasure and the high of it, and he soared.
Teddy shouted. Vince whispered sweet, filthy things into his ear, his
warm breath and gruff voice bringing Teddy that much higher before Vince
shuddered and tensed above him.
Teddy wished he wasn’t wearing a condom. He wanted that comfort of
having Vince’s cum inside him again. The warmth and feeling of safety and
belonging that came with it.
Vince gasped, collapsing on top of Teddy, like a warm blanket. A
blanket that breathed hot breath into his neck while Vince recovered.
When Vince kissed him there, Teddy jerked back.
“Don’t.”
Vince pulled back, and his eyes were different. In the firelight of the
cabin, Teddy could see they looked more reptilian, more dragon, than
human eyes, and they glowed in the crackling light.
And Teddy was scared.
He pulled his hands back, trying to touch Vince as little as possible
while he had those red eyes.
Ian almost always had red eyes like that. During fights. During sex.
When he was angry and wanted to hit something.
Or someone.
“Teddy.” Vince shook his head, blinking a few times until his eyes were
normal again. “I’m not…I’m not going to hurt you. I’m sorry. I wasn’t
angry.”
“You weren’t?” Teddy didn’t believe him. “Your eyes were red.”
“Not all dragons get red eyes just when they’re angry, sweetheart.”
 “Oh,” Teddy said, relaxing a little. “That was the first time I saw you
with red eyes. Why did you get them?”
It was difficult to tell in the orange light of the small fire, but it was
almost as if Vince was blushing.
“I…never mind.”
“You were kissing my…” Teddy reached up, just barely stopping
himself before he could touch the bite mark that made him belong to Ian.
He really hoped Ian hadn’t felt that. Teddy hadn’t felt anything of Ian
through the bite since he got here, and he didn’t want Ian sensing something
going on through the connection they shared.
“I know, I’m sorry,” Vince said.
He still sounded winded from the fucking, but he also sounded sincere.
Teddy found himself calming down. He relaxed beneath the taller male,
wiggling a little, clenching his hole so he could enjoy the wide-eyed gasp
Vince released when Teddy did that.
He was still hard, and Teddy knew by now that he would be able to go
again already.
“Make it up to me?”
Teddy would rather get back to forgetting reality didn’t exist. He
wanted to enjoy what little time he had.
Luckily, it seemed Vince was more than happy to do the same, leaning
in and kissed Teddy softly once more, gently thrusting into him until Teddy
quickly became hard again, too.
God, he wished these nights would never end.
 Chapter Nine
The snow stopped the next day, but it was still sticking to the ground
and much too high for anyone to be walking in.
Vince could fly Teddy back, the winds weren’t that strong, but he
didn’t.
Instead, he focused on his job, hunting for meat, and when he bagged a
moose, he was actually pleased to be able to give Ian something.
Some good news for the home that would hopefully take his mind off
his runaway mate for a few days longer.
Ian hadn’t been there to greet him. One of his men, Gregory, was there
to accept the moose.
He was a new male here, someone Vince did not know before Ian took
over the land.
Vince frowned when Gregory did not assist with carrying away the
moose carcass for cleaning, leaving it to the dragon shifters Vince did know,
Troy and Dallas.
They were the only two of the old clan who had stayed behind, and with
the way they glared at Gregory, it was obvious they were regretting that
decision.
“There a problem?”
“No,” Vince said, remembering himself. “It’s just been a long time
since I’ve been inside the house.”
“Get more meat for us, and you can come by more often.”
Vince clenched his teeth. No point in going into how the animals just
weren’t there. There hadn’t been many born in the last two years, and every
deer he came across was not one he could kill, not if it was female and had
a young nearby.
All of that would go well above this idiot’s head, Vince was sure.
“Is Ian not in? I had hoped to console him,” Vince said, making up
something quickly.
“Why? You find his bitch yet?”
Years of being alone, and years more of hiding his emotions from his
father, had barely contained his fury.
 “Obviously not, or I would have brought him back. I assume Ian would
be grieving.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I assumed the human would have died in that storm. It was a strong
one. My generator only just came back on this morning.”
Which was true, and he was going to miss the candlelight and cozy fires
already.
“I suppose, but Ian hasn’t felt anything. Could still be alive. Deaths
aren’t always obvious, even with mating bites.”
That was true. If there was little to no feeling between partners, and one
died away from the other, sometimes there was no sense of loss at all.
If Vince were to put his own teeth over that horrible bite scar…well, Ian
would likely feel that more than a death.
“Has he given up on the human returning then?”
“What’s with all the questions?” Gregory asked, narrowing his eyes. “I
got shit to do.”
Vince doubted that.
“I would like to know if I’m expected to continue searching for a
human that might be far away or dead.”
“Do whatever you want. I don’t care. Ian’s only got a hair up his ass
about it because the dad came around.”
Vince didn’t understand right away, and now he was the one narrowing
his eyes and frowning. “What do you mean?”
“The dad, of the human. Fucking big dragon, too. Shame he produced a
human. Always weird when that happens. Guess he found out his other kid
sold the human, and now he’s threatening to sue Ian if he doesn’t produce
the little shit.”
Gregory crossed his arms, chuckling darkly and shaking his head.
“Christ, just when Ian finally gets ahead, life loves to kick that guy in the
balls, you know?”
Vince knew Ian did enough kicking of his own that if life wished to dish
out some punishment, that it was well deserved.
Teddy’s bruises and cut lip were healing, fading, but they were still
there, and Vince would never forgive Ian for them.
But more important than all of that, Teddy’s father was looking for him.
 Because of some fatherly love? Teddy had said more than once that his
father tried to avoid him as much as possible, that he could be warm at
times but was mostly cold and distant.
Was this a father desperately searching for his wronged son out of love?
Or because he did not like something of his being taken away, sold, without
his say so?
He would have to tell Teddy.
Vince put up with some more small talk, though it was difficult to get
through when Gregory suddenly decided he wanted to do the chatting.
His idea of being friendly was telling Vince to get off his ass in that
miserable little cabin he lived in and come by the house from time to time
to drink with him and the other dragons who lived here.
Maybe sample some of the humans Ian was willing to share or bring a
few of his own.
“That is kind of you. I will consider it,” Vince said. Anything else
would sound rude and draw suspicion. “But, as you said, I need to spend
more time outside with my gun and claws if I’m to restock the meat
storage.”
“Fair enough. We were damn near on empty. That’ll feed us for a
while.”
“You share it with the human mates?” Vince was pleasantly surprised.
He shouldn’t have been.
“They get whatever I don’t finish or whatever Ian throws at them. We
know they steal a little of it while cooking, so we let them get away with
that, but they get their porridge and berries and whatever.”
Teddy had mentioned the horrible conditions of the food the humans
here were fed. According to him, they barely even got what Gregory was
claiming they did.
And if they got anything at all, it was always the food that was on the
edge of expiring, if not a few days past the due date for trash.
Vince nodded, forcing himself not to care, to remind himself that he
was only here for Teddy’s sake. He wasn’t here to check in on Ian’s other
mates. He was here to drop off the food and hopefully keep Ian off their
trail for as long as they could get away with.
Apparently, these weren’t the first mates Ian had ever had. Gregory was
in a chatty mood, and he laughed while explaining to Vince about the land
Ian had already lost.
Apparently, he’d been challenged by his cousin, Alexander, in the East,
and he lost not only his land, but all of his previous mates.
Since Ian won the challenge for this land against George, he was
apparently in no mood to trifle with a lawsuit over one human, which was
why he was more desperate to find Teddy alive.
Vince was finally able to extract himself, getting out of there without
insulting Gregory and drawing any more of the man’s attention.
He took wing and flew back in the direction of his cabin.
A whole adult moose was a good find. He would not be out hunting
anymore today, and his back and wings ached from carrying the damn
thing.
He wanted to see Teddy. He wanted to hold him, to inhale his scent, and
protect him from ever going back to Ian.
The flight was ten minutes, a testament to how large the land was and
how desperate for escape Teddy was that he’d come so far as to meet with
Vince in the stream.
The sky was clear, and he spotted Teddy down below, filling one of
Vince’s large drinking jugs with water from that same stream.
At first, his heart warmed. Teddy always tried so hard to be helpful
since coming to stay with Vince. Always either cooking, tidying something,
and now filling the drinking water for Vince’s dispenser.
Something he’d splurged on since he didn’t always trust the pipes.
He felt that pleasant warmth, and then he was annoyed.
If Ian was flying by, he would see Teddy in an instant.
There weren’t exactly many humans living out in these woods.
None that were supposed to be here, anyway.
Vince swooped down, coming to land right in front of Teddy, startling
him to the point where he nearly dropped the jug.
He smiled, arms around the blue plastic. “You were running low, so I
thought—”
“You thought you would put yourself, and me, in danger by coming out
here to fill a jug of water? Are you fucking kidding?”
Teddy blinked, the shock of Vince’s words clearly hitting him before
his face twisted with something miserable.
And angry.
 “Sorry. I figured it was fine.”
“It’s not fine,” Vince hissed. “Ian is still looking for you.”
The angry hurt that had flashed across Teddy’s face melted away,
replaced with a white that matched the snow. “Oh, uh…right. Sorry.”
Teddy hurried past him, back to the cabin.
It would have been another twenty-second flight, but on foot, with the
snow wet and melting in the sun, it was yet another ten minutes back.
Eventually, Vince couldn’t take any more of this as he grabbed the
water jug out of Teddy’s arms.
“I can carry it.”
“I can do it faster. Hurry up and get inside,” Vince said coldly, trying
desperately to ignore his own guilt for the way he’d spoken to Teddy just a
moment ago.
Teddy no longer appeared angry. He almost seemed…ashamed.
Vince didn’t like that. As he and Teddy entered the relative safety of the
cabin, removing their shoes, gloves and scarfs, Vince knew why Teddy had
left.
And he’d seen it coming.
A man could only be locked up for so long. This cabin wasn’t exactly
large. The only doors were to the bathroom, the outside, and the two closet
doors that hid away Vince’s tiny washer and dryer and the few clothes he
owned.
It was essentially a box.
Anyone would want to leave it eventually, regardless of the risk.
Teddy took off the oversized coat, which belonged to Vince. He was
back in his normal, threadbare clothing, but with regular meals and his
bruises healing, he almost looked healthy.
Like a man wearing his favorite worn clothing and not an escaped
prisoner terrified of being sent back.
“I’m sorry,” Teddy said as Vince put the jug into the dispenser. It
sloshed and bubbled loudly before settling.
“I’m sorry. You’re right. I wasn’t thinking. I just…it looked so nice
outside, and you were running low—”
“The taps work, and the power is back on. We were not in danger of
being without water.”
 “I…I’m sorry,” Teddy said. “I wasn’t trying to get you in trouble or
start something. I swear.”
Vince couldn’t face him. Couldn’t face that Teddy was clearly still
afraid of him, of what he thought Vince might do to him for being angry.
“Teddy—”
“Let me make it up to you.”
Vince whirled around when he heard Teddy suddenly right in his space.
The man’s fearful expression seemed to melt away, leaving only an
interested, lusty invitation.
Teddy’s arms wrapped as much around Vince’s shoulders as he could
reach. His kiss was soft and sweet and over so fast that Vince barely had
time to register it happened at all.
And when Teddy sank to his knees, his hands pulling at Vince’s belt,
Vince snapped out of it, grabbing onto Teddy’s wrists, stopping him.
“Don’t.”
That fear came back into Teddy’s eyes.
Vince sighed. “You are not in any trouble that you need to give me
sexual favors to get out of. I am not Ian. Please do not treat me like I am.”
He’d hoped the time they had spent together would have proven that
much, but it seemed Teddy was still dealing with certain habits.
It was enough to make Vince fearful of the time they did spend together.
Was Teddy only being affectionate with him, having sex with him,
because he was scared Vince would have thrown him out by now?
The idea made him want to be sick.
He was sure, he was so sure…
But he could be wrong. Their lovemaking, their constant kisses and
tender touches could have just been a disguise. A protection.
Considering what Teddy came from, Vince didn’t think he could blame
him.
It was wrong to send him back to Ian, so he didn’t.
It was wrong to keep him.
So he couldn’t do that either.
“Vince?” Teddy looked so concerned. As if he was getting ready to
walk on broken glass. “Vince, are you okay? I won’t do it again. I swear.”
“Teddy,” Vince rubbed at his eyes, suddenly so tired.
So heartbroken.
 He looked into Teddy’s dark green eyes. Teddy seemed to be waiting
for anything. Forgiveness, condemnation. The air between them was thick
and tense, and regardless of his feelings about it, Vince knew what must be
done.
“Your father is in the area. He’s looking for you.”
 Chapter Ten
Teddy didn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe it.
But his brain and ears weren’t lying to him. Vince said what he said,
and for an instant, Teddy thought he might look wrecked about it.
Then he just looked cold and distant.
“My…my father? He’s looking for me?”
Teddy thought about that, of all the ways that didn’t make sense, and he
shook his head. “No.”
“Yes.” Vince crossed his arms, leaning back against the counter, looking
at Teddy as though he were an unwanted guest in his space.
Which, well, yeah…
“But that’s not…my dad…” His dad wasn’t the one to sell him directly,
but it had been more than a year.
Teddy was suddenly angry. He clenched his hands to fists. “If he
wanted to come and get me, he could have done it sixteen months ago. He
had plenty of time, and you want me to think that he’s just out there looking
for me?”
“It’s what one of the new dragons at the manor said,” Vince said, still
staying back, still talking to Teddy as if he was annoying.
As if Vince couldn’t wait to throw him out of here.
“You said it was your brother who originally made the sale, and your
father was just away, correct?”
Teddy had hoped for a rescue, that maybe it was a mistake, that his dad
would come back from one of his long business trips, realize what
happened and come and get him.
He stopped hoping after the first six months.
Dad liked to stay away. Teddy always thought that had something to do
with him, but he was still back every other month or so. Always around for
Christmas, and even Teddy’s belated birthdays since he never wanted to
celebrate them on Teddy’s actual birthday.
Considering that was also the day his mate had died.
Teddy shook his head. “He…he would have found me sooner. It’s a
trick. They…they might suspect you.”
Which was also a reason to get Teddy the hell out of here.
 If Ian or Gregory or anyone else suspected that Teddy was hiding out
here, then all the more reason for him to leave.
Which made his stomach sink.
He didn’t want to go. He wanted to stay here with Vince, be wrapped up
in his arms, his bed, his furs, making him his meals and welcoming him
back after every hunt.
But Vince stared at him as if the game was over, and he’d grown bored
of it anyway.
Teddy swallowed hard over the lump in his throat.
Regardless of whether or not this was a trick, it was clear that what he’d
been doing with Vince was definitely over.
His eyes burned.
Teddy straightened his back, took a deep breath, and steeled himself.
He wasn’t going to cry or be pathetic in front of Vince.
It would just make him regret what they had even more.
“If my dad really is looking for me…do we know where he is?”
Vince told him. His father had apparently tracked him to the area and
knew Ian was mated to him.
That’s why Ian came by the other day. Not out of any sense of worry.
His dad was threatening to sue Ian if he didn’t give Teddy back.
Growing up in the house he did, Teddy knew full well that a male could
bring someone to the courts for literally any reason.
There didn’t always have to be a reason behind it, and dragging
someone through the courts was enough of a reason for Ian to not want to
bother with a human he didn’t even like anymore, anyway.
And it was so fucking strange, but in that moment, Teddy felt so utterly
alone. Almost the same sense of abandonment he got when James sold him
in the first place.
Sold by his brother, used and uncared for by Ian, and now used and
thrown away by Vince.
It made no sense because he didn’t love his brother, and he hated Ian,
but with Vince…
It really was enough to make a grown man want to cry.
Teddy only barely held himself back. He let Vince do the talking,
keeping his head down.
 If he looked at Vince or said anything, then Teddy was going to break
down and start ugly crying in front of him.
For all the lives he’d had and the many people who didn’t want him.
His dad wanted him.
But only because he was insulted that he hadn’t been paid for the sale.
Maybe he was just going to renegotiate, and Teddy wasn’t being
rescued at all.
Either way, he found himself miserable and quiet as Vince explained his
plan.
“He’s got to be staying in town. Maybe he got a room somewhere.
Gregory didn’t say he was in the house, and I don’t think anyone would
want to be in the same home where their child was…mistreated.”
That was one way of putting it.
“I’ll fly you into town. We’ll try to be discreet about it. I will tell your
father you’ve been staying with me for a while as the storm passed, but
we’ll try to keep it from Ian regardless.”
Teddy nodded, still struggling to hold himself together.
Right. Vince still needed to work for his living, and Teddy didn’t want
to cost him his job.
Vince cleared his throat. “If this is true, then we will also not tell your
father that you and I have been…I would rather a fight not break out in the
middle of town.”
Again, Teddy nodded, still struggling to keep his shit together, but he
managed to speak without coming completely unhinged, which was good.
“R-right. That would definitely get back to Ian.”
Vince sighed.
Neither of them said a word for what had to be the longest minute of
Teddy’s life.
“I have to make a trip to town anyway, restock my supplies. So I have
reason to be there without it getting back to Ian and causing suspicion.”
Teddy nodded. “Are we going now?”
“It’s still light out,” he said, glancing to the window. “Might as well get
this over with.”
That same empty misery seemed to grab Teddy by the throat and hold
on tight.
It didn’t take long for them to leave.
 There was nothing in the cabin that belonged to Teddy, though Vince
insisted on letting Teddy keep one of his hoodies.
Teddy tried not to. He didn’t want to be wrapped up in anything that
smelled like Vince, and he was too small for the damn things anyway.
Something he didn’t normally mind, but now…
Vince was determined to get his way, insisting he didn’t want to give
Teddy back to his father “wearing rags.”
Fair enough.
Teddy put on the hoodie and the extra scarf Vince had loaned him, and
Vince had to put together a harness from the rope he kept in his shed.
He apparently didn’t have a real one.
For the first time, Teddy got to see Vince shift into his true dragon
shape.
He was maybe the size of a large horse. Teddy was momentarily
stunned, but his yellow scales seemed to shine in the dying light of the day.
Teddy wrapped him up, got onto Vince’s back and tied himself down.
It was the second most uncomfortable flight he’d ever been on in his
entire life.
The first being the few times he flew with Ian. He didn’t even believe in
using ropes.
Teddy didn’t trust those ropes at all, and even with his thighs squeezing
tight around Vince’s scaled back, his hands around his long neck, he
couldn’t shake the feeling that he was about to fall right off.
Teddy had never been to the little town where Ian had settled them after
his brother gave him away. He didn’t even know what it was called, but
there was significantly less snow here than there was at Vince’s cabin.
Likely because of all the salting and shoveling going on from the people
and shopkeepers who worked and lived here.
It was actually quite nice. Like out of a postcard.
Vince found them a landing zone for dragons, and Teddy was only too
happy to slide off his back and touch the ground.
“You good?”
Teddy nodded, clutching his knees and breathing, trying to stop his
stomach from swirling. “Fine.”
He never flew too often with his father or his brother, but the harnesses
had always been sturdy leather with steel buckles and padded straps with
saddles.
James hated them.
“How are we going to find my dad? Even if he is here.”
Part of Teddy hoped he wouldn’t be, that he could go back home with
Vince, that this whole thing would be over and done with soon so he could
convince Vince to possibly keep him.
No such luck.
“We try the inn first,” he said, dragging Teddy along to a nearby inn,
again, looking more cozy cottage than anything from the city.
Vince walked right up to the woman behind the counter. She smiled at
them but dropped it when Vince didn’t smile back.
“We are looking for someone who might be staying here.”
“Oh, certainly. Do you have a name?”
Vince opened his mouth, then seemed to think on it before turning back
to Teddy.
“What’s your father’s name?”
“Theodore. I’m named after him.”
Vince gave the name to the woman at the counter, who definitely heard
that. “Theodore. Tell him I have his son here with me, but only if he is
alone.”
The woman tilted her head to the side a little.
“There is someone we are trying to avoid. If he is alone, tell him. If not,
could you please make something up to get him down here without
mentioning who is waiting?”
She frowned. “You’re his son?”
Teddy nodded. “Yeah, he’s, uh, looking for me. I guess. But he might
be with someone we’re trying not to see.”
She seemed unsure, and Teddy didn’t blame her.
For all she knew, they were the crazy ones trying to intrude on a paying
customer’s time.
Thankfully, she looked into her records and smiled.
“There is someone with that name staying here. If I recall right, he’s
been in a miserable mood since arriving. He came back earlier in a huff and
went upstairs, alone.”
Holy shit. Teddy couldn’t believe it.
His dad was here.
 And he was angry? Really? Because of Teddy being gone?
Teddy didn’t want to get his hopes up.
“If he is alone, we could go up ourselves,” Vince said. “What room
number?”
She gave it to them.
The inn itself was small. The size of a large house with only two floors.
Teddy’s heart slammed as Vince confirmed again that the resident of
that room was indeed alone, that he had no one with him before they moved
up the stairs.
Teddy had been sad to leave behind the little cabin where he’d been
making himself at home, but now, walking up the stairs, his heart pounded
in his ears, and he hardly knew what to do with himself.
When they stepped in front of the door, he felt his stomach churning, as
if he was going to be sick.
He grabbed Vince’s wrist.
Vince looked down at him.
Teddy couldn’t look back. He didn’t ask Vince to not knock either. He
didn’t know what was wrong with him.
Vince knocked.
The angry, gruff voice of his father, who he never thought he would
hear again, shouted on the other side.
“Go the fuck away!”
That sounded like him. Impatient as always.
Vince rolled his eyes, unconcerned and pounded on the door again.
“Theodore. I work with Ian. I’ve come to…deliver someone to you.”
Teddy cringed, but then there was a heavy and fast stomping of feet as
the door was yanked open.
Teddy jumped.
He had no idea what he was thinking would happen or what he would
see, but his father, normally tall and broad, maybe even a touch overweight
for a dragon, but always well-groomed and in expensive, impeccable
clothes, looked fucking terrible.
He didn’t have a beard like Vince did, but he clearly hadn’t shaved or
showered in a couple of days. His hair was longer and a touch thinner
around the middle of his scalp. He still seemed strong but thinner. His
clothes washed, but they seemed more worn and bigger on him.
 As if he’d been stressed out about something heavy for a long time.
“Dad,” Teddy said, waiting for the rejection, for the proof that his dad
really wasn’t here for him and he was just trying to help Ian take him back.
Christ, this was such a mistake. Why hadn’t he and Vince thought of
that? That this was just one big trap, and they’d walked right into it and—
His dad made a weak, animal sound Teddy had never heard before as he
suddenly rushed at Teddy and wrapped him up into his arms in a way Teddy
had stopped hoping and dreaming for when he was a little kid.
Right after he learned how his mother, the love of his father’s life, had
died.
And just like that, all the years melted away, even his time getting
stepped on by Ian. Teddy broke down, grasping at his father, holding on
tight, and cried like a small child as he buried his face into his father’s
shoulder.
 Chapter Eleven
Teddy was in a daze for the rest of that night.
His dad invited them in, distrustful of Vince at first, but when he
realized Vince had been protecting Teddy, had saved his life from that freak,
end of the winter storm, he got all kinds of warm and jolly.
Then he ordered enough food to feed ten dragons and insisted they all
eat and drink.
Teddy was shocked when the drinks were all nonalcoholic wines and
beers, and even juices.
Not that he was ever a heavy drinker, but he enjoyed his booze, and he
looked as though he’d been dipping into the bottle a lot lately.
Which was why Teddy was shocked when he revealed that he had given
up all alcohol.
Apparently, right after finally learning what James had done.
“I never approved of that, never,” he said, a firmness in his voice and
eyes that made Teddy scared for James’s safety.
Teddy had no choice but to believe him.
It seemed Theodore had gone off on a longer than usual business trip,
and with his habit of not checking in on his adult sons, he didn’t know
Teddy was gone for nearly eleven months.
His father promised that he’d sent a card and a gift for his birthday, and
James had insisted he got it, so Theodore thought he was being ignored.
Which he apparently expected from Teddy, making Teddy cringe.
He hadn’t come over for Thanksgiving either, only sending messages,
and not worried to not have a response because James, even though he was
younger, being the head of house in Theodore’s absence, always insisted
that Teddy was simply not around for the phone calls, or that he got any
messages and either ignored them or sent his thanks.
Which pissed Teddy off something awful.
The fact that he’d been given away to some dickhead dragon, getting
beat up and raped while his brother had been pretending Teddy was either
home or out with friends or whatever, made his blood boil.
His father didn’t suspect anything until Christmas passed four months
ago, when he went home for the second time that year apparently, and
James could not come up with any reasonable excuse for why his human,
supposedly unmated, half-brother, would not be home for a meal and gifts.
It made Teddy’s throat close, thinking of it.
He’d spent Christmas morning miserable and missing his father, and
even his brother, so much. Ian had invited more of his friends over as they
drank and partied the day away.
There had been no gifts for his mates, but Troy and Dallas, two of the
kinder dragons, had sneaked the humans some chocolates and extra food.
It really hadn’t been a bad day, all things considered, but the fact that
he’d been putting up with that, thinking he was alone and abandoned, while
his father waited for him somewhere, wanting him, and even angry to find
out what happened, made Teddy fight tears all over again.
He never truly realized how alone he’d felt until that moment.
His dad didn’t abandon him. His dad had been sending his usual cold
messages, even gifts for birthdays and holidays, and James had been hiding
the fact that he’d given Teddy away.
Had lied and said that Dad was in on it. That he approved of the match
when Teddy had furiously begged James not to give him to Ian.
“I never would have given you away,” Theodore insisted, food
forgotten while Teddy sat, teary-eyed next to him.
His dad put an arm around his shoulder, holding him close while Vince
sat on the opposite side of the little table, watching them, hardly eating any
of the insane amounts of ordered food either.
“If I ever chose a mate for you, they would have been good. I would
never give you away or accept money for you. Not ever.”
“I thought you didn’t care,” Teddy said, wiping his face, sniffing and
fighting not to sob all over again. “I thought you finally decided to get it
over with.”
“No, no, never.” Theodore wrapped Teddy up and actually kissed his
hair. “It was always my fault. I was the one who…your mother was never
on you. I should have told you. It was my fault that I could not get over it.
My fault I put that on you, and when I came home and you were gone…”
Theodore shuddered as though reliving a terrible memory.
He kissed Teddy’s hair again.
“I would never give you away.”
 Teddy felt like a little kid again, instead of a guy in his twenties. He
held on to his dad and didn’t care that Vince was there to watch him.
His dad was here. His dad was holding him, telling him he loved him,
all the things Teddy always wanted but never got to have because he’d
thought Dad blamed him for his mom’s death.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he said, again and again.
Eventually, when they calmed themselves, Theodore turned his
attention to Vince with a wide, watery smile on his face.
He offered Vince a stupid amount of money for Teddy’s rescue. Offered
him literally whatever he wanted, the moon and stars if he could give it.
And Teddy was still left with the feeling that he was in an alternate
dimension because he couldn’t believe the words his father spoke.
They were true, though.
Vince shocked him, even more, when he declined the money.
“I could not in good consciousness accept.”
“Nonsense! I know hunters. I’m sure you work hard at your living, but
those in your profession are hardly paid well.”
“I am comfortable,” Vince said with a soft smile. “It was the right thing,
pulling him out of that stream.”
“And keeping him hidden when you had no knowledge of his wealthy
father looking for him. I insist. Name your price.”
Vince kept up his soft smile. “My payment would be that you not reveal
to Ian my involvement.”
Theodore seemed confused as if he couldn’t believe any man would
turn down millions of dollars for dropping off a runaway.
Teddy knew Vince wouldn’t offer to be Teddy’s new mate, and his
father wouldn’t offer it either, but he wanted Vince to take something as
well.
“If Ian ever does find out,” he started. “Could Vince come and work for
you, Dad? I would want him to have work somewhere if the worst
happened, though I don’t know how the hunt has been going back home.”
“Yes, at least that,” said Theodore, nodding. “Until you come to your
senses and accept my payment. A job offer. You would even have your own
room in my home should you wish it, a fine one, not one for the other
servants.”
 Teddy cringed, knowing that wasn’t what Vince would want either. He
liked his own space.
Vince pressed his lips together, looking as if he was going to decline.
Take it. Please, take it.
Vince sighed, apparently backed into a wall. “Very well, a job. Should
things become…hostile back home.”
“Excellent!” Theodore held out his hand across the table, above the
mountain of meats, cheeses, and grapes, shaking Vince's hand hard and with
delight. “The offer is open. Forever. Whatever you need, say the word, and
it’s yours.”
Vince smiled, though it seemed far away. “Thank you for your
generosity.”
Teddy could finally breathe. He wasn’t sure what was going on with
him, why he wanted Vince to say yes.
Maybe it was because he knew this was the last time he would ever see
him.
Vince lived a humble life, especially for a dragon, but Teddy had
quickly learned that it was just who he was.
He didn’t want riches. He didn’t want a fine room in someone else’s
house.
He wanted his cabin in the woods. He wanted to hunt and fish and live
on his own terms.
The cabin where he lived now wasn’t even his, but he and Teddy had
talked about that. Vince knew he was living on someone else’s land, but
he’d made it his life, and he liked it there.
Teddy didn’t want to take that from him.
Theodore kept Teddy close for a while longer, eating merrily when the
topic was on his happiness at having Teddy back, how he would make
amends, and then he barely ate at all when he talked of James’s punishment,
as well as asking after Vince’s safety.
Eventually, it got late. Really late. Teddy thought he would fall over.
And Vince had to leave.
Theodore insisted on purchasing a room for him for the night, but Vince
equally insisted on flying home in the dark, making up an excuse about how
Ian might suspect if he came around and found the cabin empty.
 Teddy knew Ian wouldn’t be going to the cabin first thing in the
morning.
Vince just didn’t want to be around him anymore.
It made Teddy’s throat tight, and his stomach constrict.
He sucked it up.
It was never going to last. They both had known that.
So he wasn’t going to draw this out and make the both of them suffer
just because he couldn’t get over his own shit.
At the door, Theodore shook Vince’s hand and actually hugged him.
Teddy stepped forward when they were done. He wanted a hug, too.
He held out his hand instead. “Thank you, for everything.”
Vince shook it, his rough hand warm, and Teddy treasured that touch.
“You keep safe,” was all he said before releasing Teddy’s hand and
walking away, out of sight.
Leaving Teddy to catch up with his dad, and he wasn’t sad the whole
night. There was too much to think about. His father wanted to spend the
night apologizing to him, insisted Teddy’s worth, and then gently asking
about Ian’s treatment of him.
Teddy wasn’t ready to get into the details of that.
So he chose to eat more meats and desserts Theodore had ordered.
Theodore seemed happy enough to feed him, commenting that Teddy was
so damn skinny.
And it wasn’t all bad. Teddy could almost forget about Vince while he
basked in the love he thought his father didn’t have for him.
As if he was catching up on decades of it, soaking it all in.
They stayed up late, eating and talking.
He even gave Teddy the bed while Theodore made something out of the
extra bedsheets on the floor, and no amount of Teddy’s insisting could keep
him off it.
Teddy fell asleep almost happy.
But still missing Vince’s cabin, the crackling of his fire in the little
wood-burning stove, the candles, the furs, his body heat, and most of all, he
missed Vince enough that he stuffed his face in his pillow so his dad
wouldn’t hear him crying.
It was the best and worst day of his life.
 Chapter Twelve
James was really up shit’s creek.
Teddy almost felt sorry for him every time he caught the guy getting
yelled at by one of the servants for not cleaning the toilet right, but then all
Teddy had to do was remind himself that James sold him to Ian.
Not even sold, gave him away on credit.
So, yeah, it was a little petty, but Teddy loved rubbing it in.
All of James’s fine clothes had been taken away from him, and he was
forced to wear only the uniforms given to the cleaners, as well as whatever
cheap clothes his new work salary could afford him.
Since his allowance had been cut off, and James had never been one for
saving his money, he was essentially broke until he earned his way back
into Dad’s good graces, which according to their father, would take a long,
long, long time.
James no longer ate at the family table. He didn’t get access to the cars,
and if he wanted to eat, he ate whatever he purchased or made for himself.
The chef was under strict instructions to not give James anything that came
from his ovens or fridges.
Meanwhile, Teddy got a spot right next to his dad at the family table,
somewhere he never thought he would sit.
Dad even gave him the extra car keys and told him to keep whichever
one he wanted.
When Teddy pointed out that he had no idea how to drive, Theodore
waved it away and gleefully told him he would teach Teddy.
That, and Teddy got all of his things back. Thankfully, James had the
good sense to not throw away his stuff, though Teddy was pretty sure James
had been digging through his records and old CDs.
Either way, Teddy was oddly happy to be back. The staff welcomed him
with warm hugs and even another big dinner with a huge cake the chef had
prepared to welcome him.
And his father was walking around the house, freshly shaved and
sending out orders for clothes that would fit him better.
James sulked, but everyone ignored him.
 Except for Teddy, who, on occasion, followed him around just for the
pleasure of pointing out that he was supposed to dust from top to bottom,
that he was vacuuming wrong, and rubbing it in how much money he had in
his account now that Dad had quadrupled his allowance.
Yeah, petty, but fuck him. Sometimes Teddy didn’t know who he hated
more, Ian or James.
But James was family, so Teddy supposed this was the least he could do
as far as brotherly bullying went.
Dad spent a lot of time with Teddy, as well. As if he was trying to make
up for all the years he’d been avoiding him.
He took Teddy fishing, to the shops, cinemas, restaurants, and even a
gun range.
And Teddy loved all of it.
One time, he heard his dad yelling on the phone from his office.
Apparently, just because he got Teddy back didn’t mean he was going to let
Ian off the hook for the abuse he’d put Teddy through.
Teddy was partly glad but partly worried.
He hoped Ian wouldn’t take it out on the other mates, and Teddy had to
gently remind his father that he still had Ian’s bite. He could still feel Ian’s
pain.
Any that got passed his other mates and made it to Teddy, that is.
Best not to make Ian do anything to purposely hurt himself when he had
so many other humans under his thumb.
Teddy almost wished he could take all of them away, too. He hated that
he was living it up now, and they were still suffering.
But there was nothing that could be done. They belonged to Ian, and
they didn’t have rich dads to come to their senses and rescue them.
Theodore had seemed as if he wanted to fight that, but with his current
mood being to give Teddy absolutely everything he wanted, he gave in,
backing down slightly, though Teddy was sure his father was going to find
other ways of fucking with Ian as his revenge.
It was almost enough to make him forget about…
Either way, the first month passed, and then the second. It got warmer,
the leaves came into the trees and flowers bloomed, but Vince never
reached out. No calls. No letters sent. Nothing, and this time there was no
chances of James messing with any correspondence.
 Teddy even asked him once just to make sure, and James snarled at
him.
“I can’t even answer my own calls nowadays. You think they let me
near the mail?”
Fair enough.
Teddy steeled himself for never having to worry about the male again
until he started noticing that his stomach was feeling a little firm, and he
was getting sicker in the mornings.
He scared the shit out of his dad when Teddy ran away from the
breakfast table one morning, couldn’t make it to the toilet in time, and
puked all over the hallway carpet.
James had bitched something fierce about having to clean that up.
Dad was so paranoid that he called a doctor, and someone actually
came.
Teddy didn’t know doctors made house calls for humans.
Money really talked.
The doctor confirmed what Teddy had been hoping wasn’t true for
weeks.
He had an egg inside him.
His dad had looked pale as the whiteout from that last snowstorm.
Teddy could almost see everything rushing through his head.
His human son had an egg inside him. What if he died the same way his
wife had? Was it Ian’s child? What were the legal options if it was?
But then he calmed himself down quickly, clearing his throat, thanking
and paying the doctor, who gave Teddy a whole pharmacy of prenatal
vitamins and creams and potions to help with the pregnancy and assuring
them both that he could be called on at any time.
Dragon pregnancies were tricky things for humans, after all.
Teddy felt fine, though. He hoped he did, anyway, but he wasn’t
worried.
Not really.
Until his father sat on the edge of the bed he’d insisted on putting Teddy
into for his exam.
“It’s his, isn’t it?”
Teddy felt a miserable blush creeping up his neck.
“I…don’t think it’s Ian’s.”
 It had been too long since they’d had sex, and Ian was rough but usually
careful.
His father shocked him by shaking his head, reaching for Teddy’s hand
and holding it. “No, I mean the woodsman. The male who brought you back
to me.”
Fuck.
Teddy felt even hotter. He couldn’t look his father in the eye when he
nodded.
“Yeah. But he didn’t force me!” he said quickly. That seemed massively
important to get out of the way. “He…we…wanted to. It was…I don’t
know, but he doesn’t want me anymore, so I don’t…I don’t know what to
do.”
He didn’t want to bind Vince to him like that. Not when the man didn’t
want him back.
“I know, I figured…something had been going on,” Theodore said. “He
texts me every week asking after you.”
That shocked the hell out of him. “He does? I didn’t even know he had
a phone.”
Which was dumb. Everyone had phones. Even woodsmen who wanted
to be left alone by the world, he supposed.
Theodore nodded. “I was thinking something happened there. You did
say you spent all those days alone with him in his cabin.”
Oh God.
“If it’s his child, he needs to know. I think he cares for you very much.”
Teddy felt his throat closing up. “Yeah?”
Care was not love, but if Vince was asking about him every week…
always checking in…
And doing it with Teddy’s father, making sure Teddy wouldn’t know he
was reaching out?
Why? Because he thought it would be easier for Teddy to move on or
something?
If that was the reason, it was a dumb one, and Teddy wanted to see
Vince.
Badly.
“He doesn’t want any money, Dad,” Teddy said. “He doesn’t want to
live here. He wants a quiet life. It’s just who he is. I can’t give him that.”
 His father guffawed. “He is expected to be the one to provide for you.
Let me reach out to him. If he does not respond, you will know where you
truly stand, will you not?”
“Can’t argue with that.” Though Teddy really wished he could.
So, his dad reached out to Vince, and Teddy waited, feeling sicker than
he had that morning for Vince to call back.
Vince didn’t call back.
He was banging at the front door at the ass crack of dawn the next day.
 Chapter Thirteen
Vince slammed his fist into the heavy, oak doors until he left dents in
them.
He didn’t care. He could hardly focus on the damage he was causing
because Teddy was in there.
Teddy was here, he was carrying Vince’s egg, and he needed Vince
right away.
Vince needed him, too.
He was just getting ready to bust down the door itself when someone
finally yanked it open.
Someone with dark hair and eyes who glared fiercely at him.
“The fuck do you want?”
“Where is Teddy?”
“Lazy ass is in bed. Where else?”
Strange way for a servant to speak, but then Vince took in his looks.
This was no human or even animal shifter.
This was another dragon. He was shorter than Vince and definitely
much taller than Teddy, but there was a resemblance.
This was the idiot who sold Teddy to Ian.
Vince felt his teeth becoming long and sharp, his claws coming out as
he snatched James by the throat, yanking him forward. “Take me to him.
Now.”
The male hardly looked impressed, as though he would decline just to
see what Vince would do.
And Vince so hoped that he would.
Hoped that he could hurt this little maggot.
Badly.
Instead, another servant, a plump, human woman, suddenly arrived, as
though understanding exactly what was happening, reached out and grabbed
Vince by his forearm.
“He’s this way, sir. He’ll be so happy to see you.”
Vince wasn’t sure how it was possible Teddy could be happy to see
him.
 Not with the way they’d left things, and certainly not with the condition
he’d left Teddy in.
But Vince was only too eager to follow after the human woman. She
could tell him to jump off a cliff, and he would do it if assured that would
lead him to Teddy.
Fortunately, she didn’t seem as if she wanted to do something as cruel
to him.
She led him down a series of hallways, and even in the state he was in,
Vince could see that a home like this certainly outshined the one Ian had
taken when he became the new commanding dragon of his lands.
It was no wonder Ian had been scared of pissing off the owner of this
place.
After going up a set of stairs and down another wide, carpeted hall, she
stopped at another mahogany door.
She knocked softly. “Teddy? Are you awake, sweetie?”
Sweetie?
Vince felt a little warmed, knowing the staff here cared enough about
Teddy to have pet names for him.
It likely meant they had not approved of his being sold, though he
wished they had been able to tip off Theodore sooner to Teddy’s
predicament.
He decided to withhold judgment on that. Perhaps they had no choice.
Heads of houses didn’t often communicate with their staff, after all.
“Teddy?” She tried the door, it was unlocked, and when she gently
opened it, Teddy was in the middle of scrambling out of bed, wearing a
striped pajama set that made him look more regal and more important than
anything Ian had put him in.
And those were just his sleeping clothes.
Teddy’s dark eyes locked on him. His hair was messy and all over the
place from sleep. His color was good, the bruising on his eye and scab on
his lip that Vince remembered long gone.
He’d put on a touch of weight, as well.
Good. He’d been so skinny the last time Vince had seen him.
He looked…normal.
“I…came as soon as I heard,” he said. “Your father’s message.”
 He only wished he got it sooner. Reception wasn’t so great where he
lived, so he almost never checked his phone. Every few days at most, so he
was glad to have looked earlier this morning, still in bed, trying to sleep,
and miserable without Teddy at his side.
For some reason, when he saw that message, he expected to get here
and see Teddy swollen with his egg, ready to burst.
Of course, seeing Teddy now, belly still flat, was a reminder that he
wasn’t that far along, that there was no danger here.
Yet.
“Are you…well?” Vince was stupid for rushing all the way out here.
Stupid for panicking when Teddy was clearly in the best possible hands.
“Yes,” Teddy said, his voice small. “You?”
Vince swallowed. “Very well.” And then, because he couldn’t resist. “I
have missed you.”
His peaceful little cabin was no longer a solitude anymore.
It was a quiet, empty, nothing without Teddy to come home to.
Teddy exhaled a heavy breath, his mouth twisting. “I missed you, too.
Why didn’t you call me? I didn’t know you even had a phone.”
“I didn’t think you wanted me to. I’ve been—”
“Checking in with Dad, I know.” Teddy nodded. “I wish you’d asked to
talk to me. I would’ve…I wanted to hear your voice.”
“Perhaps I should step away, sirs,” said the human woman. Vince forgot
she was there. “Someone won’t be far if either of you need anything.” She
looked pointedly at Vince. “Sir.”
Almost no one called him sir. He wasn’t any sort of dragon with any
status, but he got the point.
A light warning.
Don’t make Teddy upset. He was still pregnant, after all.
She left, and Vince knew she would get Theodore. He wouldn’t leave
his son alone with Vince here.
He might very well want to kill Vince for this.
A lowly woodsman touching his son.
He didn’t know what he was going to say or do to make himself look
less despicable, or if he should try defending himself, but he didn’t get the
chance to think about it as, no sooner was she gone than Teddy was in his
arms, holding him tightly, and kissing him firmly on the mouth.
 Vince was lost to it immediately.
He didn’t try to fight it. He kissed his Teddy back with all the love and
need he’d hidden away since that day he decided to give Teddy back.
He felt better in Vince’s arms than he remembered.
“I’m sorry,” Vince said, breathless between kisses, capturing Teddy’s
lips again. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m sorry too,” Teddy said, his hands on Vince’s cheeks. “I should’ve
—”
“You did nothing wrong,” Vince said, refusing to let Teddy accept any
blame for what happened, his condition, or how they parted. “You are well
here? You’re happy?”
“Happy with everything except that you’re not here.”
Vince’s heart burst.
He pulled Teddy into another frenzied, desperate kiss.
God, he’d missed his little human so bad.
He was never letting him go again.
There was a gruff throat clearing behind them.
Vince pulled himself away from Teddy, not wishing the man’s father to
see them kissing like that.
He grabbed onto Teddy’s hand and held it firmly, however.
Theodore looked decidedly less jolly now than he did the day Vince
brought Teddy home to him. He wore a bathrobe and slippers over a set of
pajamas that were equally as fine as Teddy’s. His thinning hair was a mess,
as though he’d just rushed out of bed to get here.
“I suspected as much.”
“Sir, what I did to your son, I’ll make amends.”
“Amends?” Theodore raised a dark, bushy brow. “I was under the
impression that everything was consensual.”
Vince glanced down at Teddy, who smiled softly and shrugged. “I
wasn’t about to make you out to be some kind of monster. He’s okay with
it.”
“Mostly okay with it,” Theodore grouched, stepping into the room,
sizing Vince up, and he got the feeling he might be preparing for another
fight here.
Theodore stepped toe to toe with him, his mouth set in a grim line.
“Do you love my son?”
 Vince swallowed, and he didn’t have to think about it. “With everything
I have, yes.”
Teddy made a choking sound. “I love you too.”
Vince looked down at him, and he thought his face might crack in half
with how he smiled.
Theodore sighed. “Figures, I just get my child back, and now I must
give him away.”
Thedore’s finger was suddenly pointed right at Vince’s nose. “You will
see to my son’s care every day. You will not be going back to Ian’s land.”
“No, I understand that.”
Theodore nodded, his tone making no room for arguments. “I will
arrange for a small home built on my land. Teddy explained to me that you
need…space. You will also work as one of my hunters, earn your keep. You
will not laze around here. Understand?”
Vince did, and his heart lifted. “Yes sir, I understand.”
The chance to still be independent, to work for his living, be on the
land, but with his little human safely tucked into his side.
And soon, his child as well.
He didn’t think Theodore would want Vince’s new lodgings to be as far
away from him as Vince’s cabin had been from Ian, and he was likely going
to have to fight the man a little on the size of it.
He didn’t want Theodore building a whole other mansion, after all.
But a home he and Teddy could make together, raise a young one in,
that sounded like more than he deserved.
“I will work hard for you to provide for Teddy, sir. I swear it.”
“I know you will.”
He had no illusions here. Vince was going to mate with his son.
Theodore would find some way to force money onto Vince that he did not
earn, want or deserve.
So long as Teddy was the one to receive it all, then Vince could get used
to it.
Theodore nodded. “Good, so we have an understanding,” he held out
his hand. “Son.”
Vince looked at the offered hand and then at Teddy, who looked as if he
was fighting not to cry.
Vince shook Theodore’s hand.
 Theodore suddenly went back to the overly happy, jovial male he’d
been the day of his and Teddy’s reunion feast in the inn. He clapped Vince
on the shoulder.
“Excellent. Now, while I would normally rather a mating bite happen
after a proper ceremony, if I am honest with myself, I would rather my
son’s connection to that fucking idiot be severed the sooner the better.”
Theodore took a step back. “So, if you would please.”
He gestured to Teddy, who bounced from heel to toe.
Vince faced the male, holding Teddy’s hands, love filling him.
“Will you take my bite?”
Teddy nodded quickly, crying a little, wiping his eyes. “Yes. Please. I’ll
work hard to deserve it.”
“You don’t need to work for it.” Vince kissed Teddy’s knuckles. “I’ve
belonged to you from the first moment I laid eyes on you.”
Teddy swallowed, his voice thick. “Yeah, right back at you.”
He pulled Teddy into his arms, teeth getting long and sharp in his
mouth, leaning in and kissing that hateful scar that belonged to Ian before
he fit his own teeth over top of it.
And he bit down on his mate’s shoulder, severing his bond with Ian and
marking Teddy as his.

THE END
MARCYJACKS.COM