“Baldewin? Are you in—oops!”
They broke apart, both panting a little, with Baldewin snapping around to see who had interrupted them. He kept Tori close, one arm protectively around his back, as if ready to haul him behind him. But as quickly as he moved, he almost instantly relaxed. “Cassie. Sasha. You made good time.”
“Yeah, we did,” the petite, Korean-American woman responded lightly. Behind her stood a tall, blonde woman who made Tori think Valkyrie goddess warrior. She had the build of a power lifter. If not for the smile on her face, Tori would have been a little intimidated. The two women couldn’t have been more different in appearance, but the slightly possessive arm the blonde had around the smaller woman convinced Tori they were probably perfectly matched.
The smaller woman pushed light blue hair out of her face, looking a little windblown, with a hint of color still high in her cheeks. She was pretty, but what caught Tori’s attention was the hint of mischief that lurked in her dark eyes.
“Annnnd I’m seriously interrupting. Totally my bad.” Except she didn’t look remorseful in the least for her poor timing.
Tori wasn’t at all happy about the interruption, that was true. But he was curious about this mage who looked slightly aglow to him. Her power was steady and true, her aura clear, and he liked the look of it.
He also very much liked that even when they were caught kissing, Baldewin hadn’t moved away and even now kept an arm around Tori’s waist. He wasn’t ashamed of Tori. And Tori reveled in it.
“I should probably thank you for the interruption”—Baldewin’s expression made it clear he had no intention of actually being happy about it—“as apparently I have no situational awareness when kissing him. I didn’t even hear your approach.”
“Not often I manage to sneak up on a fellow dragon,” Sasha admitted with a laugh. “He must be a good kisser. Hi there, by the way. We skipped introductions.”
“Yes, we did,” Tori agreed, trying to get his blush to fade through sheer willpower. He had a feeling it wasn’t going away any time soon. “I’m Tori Taavi.”
“Cassie Burkhard,” the Asian-American woman responded readily, extending a hand. “Mage of the Burkhard Clan. This is my amazing and sexy wife, Sasha.”
Tori’s hand was in hers—she had a surprisingly strong grip—before he fully registered what she was saying. He blinked and jerked his gaze over to the smiling blonde. He had to admit he was a bit dazed when he shook the dragon’s hand, but she didn’t seem bothered by it. He was meeting a same-sex couple. A mated couple.
“It’s good—great—to meet you both,” he corrected awkwardly. His face was burning with embarrassment, but neither of the women seemed to notice.
“Come join us for dinner. We can catch up on everything,” Cassie invited.
Tori was reluctant to break the moment with Baldewin, but it was apparently broken anyway. There was no helping it now.
Not content to just follow her out of the room, Baldewin paused them long enough to lean in and give Tori a chaste kiss. Above his mouth, he murmured, “I would like very much to pick this back up later.”
He couldn’t contain the bright smile or resist the urge to kiss Baldewin back, a soft exchange of lips. “Yes, please.”
Chuckling, Baldewin gave him one more kiss before taking his hand and pulling him out of the room.
With the promise of later, Tori was content to follow, although still a little nervous. All he knew was that he wanted to kiss Baldewin again. And he was glad that Baldewin made it clear he felt the same.
Their hotel had a small restaurant next door, and they met up with everyone in front of it. They’d picked up quick food for lunch on the way here but limited their stops as much as possible. Tori, at least, was famished.
The restaurant was a nice one, a local business run by a family. The food was exquisite and full of flavor. Tori ate enough to put himself into a food coma and didn’t care.
But what caught his eye in the course of the meal was the earring Cassie wore. She only had on one, and it was a flat disc much like a slim mirror. The spellwork on it was ingenious, simple in design and flawlessly executed. He could read it once Cassie stilled long enough for him to get a good look. A translation spell.
She’d come that prepared?
Knowing she couldn’t readily speak his language, she’d created and worn that on the flight in so she could speak with him?
It was high-level magic, what she had done. The crafting said something not only of her skills but of her as a person. Apparently, everyone in the Burkhard Clan was thoughtful and kind.
Tori sat in the middle of the table, conversation flowing easily around him, looking at the bright smiles. He was wrapped in kindness on all sides, and the lesson hit all over again that these people were not his enemies. Far from it.
On the contrary, he was fast beginning to believe they could be friends. Happiness and an amazing feeling of peace started to seep into him. He’d never had this before, and he was starting to let himself truly believe this could be his new life.
Baldewin paid for all their dinners, and they sent a thank you to the chef for the food before leaving. As Tori stepped out of the restaurant, Cassie surprised him by linking their arms.
“Tell me more about this masking spell of yours,” she requested, all bright-eyed curiosity. “We checked the records before I flew out here, and no one’s able to figure out what spell you were using. Is this what your clan specialized in? Glamours?”
“It’s one of our strengths,” Tori answered, not sure what to do with this overly friendly woman. Were all Americans like this? He thought they had more of a personal bubble. Cassie seemed to be the type to obliterate every personal bubble she encountered.
“Yeah? That makes more sense, then. We lost a lot of knowledge because of the war, and everything the minor clans knew how to do seems to have gotten destroyed in the backlash. Which is seriously sad, but not much we can do about it. You can teach me the spell?”
“Sure.” Tori opened the hotel door for them, stealing a glance at her. Was she seriously intimating…? “You’ll help me make them?”
“Absolutely.” Punching a fist into the air, she sing-songed, “Craft night, baby! But let’s do something about your hands, first. Baldewin texted, said you’ve got some nasty road rash on your palms. I brought the awesomesauce to deal with it.”
Tori darted a look over his shoulder. He’d used Baldewin’s phone to text what elements he’d like to have on hand, but a salve for his palms hadn’t been on the list. Just when had Baldewin snuck that message in?
Baldewin caught his look and winked at him.
Oh dear, and there went his heart again. Tori was quickly falling into danger, here. Baldewin wasn’t even trying to seduce him, and he was melting by degrees. Just what would happen if Baldewin decided to pull out all the stops?
Tori’s willpower would vanish in a puff of smoke, that’s what would happen.
His companion caught the look, and whispered as she dragged him up the stairs, “And do tell me how you two ended up locking lips. Because wow, was that hot.” With her free hand, she made a show of fanning herself.
His face was back to burning. “That sort of just happened.”