So, it was only natural for North to snuggle just a tiny bit closer to Warin. It wasn’t that Gunter was threatening or unfriendly in anyway. He was a bit stiff and very confusing since most of the things out of his mouth didn’t make any sense. Oh, and it didn’t hurt that Warin was sexy hot and looking at him like he wanted to gather North close while growling at the other dragon.
But all the taxi closeness came to a quick end when they reached the hotel and North was briskly ushered up to his room with the two dragons acting as his own personal security team.
When they reached his room, North shed his coat and tossed it over the desk chair before flopping down on the bed. “Okay.” He pointed at Warin. “You’re a dragon.” His finger shot over to point at Gunter’s chest. “And you’re a dragon, right?”
“Indeed,” Gunter replied with a stiff smile.
“We’re both fire dragons from the Burkhard clan. We live in Burkhard Castle near Sonthofen, Germany, which is where we are taking you. It will be safest for you there.”
“I’ve got lots of questions about that, but first, can you do something, I don’t know, dragon-y, to prove that you’re dragons?” North practically bounced on the bed in his excitement while Warin and Gunter exchanged looks.
“A smoke ring?” Warin offered.
Gunter shook his head. “You risk setting off the smoke alarms.”
“Plus, it’s a nonsmoking room,” North added, earning a roll of the eyes from Warin.
Warin crossed to North’s side and crouched down a little while shoving his sweater sleeve to his elbow. “How about this?” From his fingertips to his elbow, his pale skin shifted to a leathery, deep red pebbled with shiny scales. His fingers elongated just slightly, showing the tiniest hint of what would be long, black talons, but Warin seemed to stop the shift from going any further.
Reaching out with a trembling hand, North lightly touched his arm, taking in the surprising warmth, the buttery smoothness of the skin, and the silkiness of the scales. Dragon. He was touching a dragon. A real live, fire-breathing dragon. They were real. And alive!
North’s mouth fell open, and a squeal flew out. The dragon arm disappeared in a flash, and Warin slapped his hand over North’s mouth.
“What are you doing?” Gunter demanded.
“He was going to scream. We can’t have him drawing attention to us,” Warin countered.
“He’s merely excited. Alric said Cameron made similar noises when he saw Ravi in his dragon form for the first time. He’s fine.”
When Warin narrowed his gaze, North had to admit he had the worst urge to lick the man’s hand. What did dragons taste like? Grinning against Warin’s hand, North parted his lips and licked across the man’s palm. He tasted of salty sweat and something all Warin.
The dragon yelped softly and ripped his hand away. His eyes flared again, and North swore he didn’t see disgust or anger there. Maybe interest. Desire. Oh, could Warin be gay? No way! He couldn’t possibly be lucky enough to have found a gay dragon.
“He licked me,” Warin gasped.
“Huh. I don’t think Cameron licked Alric.” Gunter paused, and a little smirk twisted his lips. “Well, I don’t think Cameron licked Alric right away. But we’re getting off the subject we should be discussing.”
Warin straightened and rubbed his palm where North had licked him as he paced to the opposite side of the room. North struggled not to grin like an idiot at the strange look Warin continued to give him.
“Yes. Who’s after me? And why?” North asked. He really needed to think about why someone was after him and why the dragons were so intent on keeping him safe. Thinking about the sexiness of Warin would have to come later.
“This sounds like the Jaeggi,” Warin replied. His voice dipped, doing this growly thing that sent a shiver down North’s spine.
“Did they say anything to you?” Gunter asked.
North shook his head. “No. I spotted the first one at the metro station, but didn’t realize he was following me until I reached the town square. When I saw the second one, I took off. They chased me until I reached the cops, who scared them off. They showed up again tonight, and well, you scared them off.”
Warin folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the dresser. “How did they find him so quickly?”
“Likely the seeking spell tipped them off. They might have a spell in place to detect the use of magic.” Gunter pulled his phone from his pocket. “I texted both Alric and Lisette, but I’ve only heard from Lisette so far. We need to let Alric know.”
“Who’s Alric and the Yaw-key? Can someone start explaining things to me?” North demanded loudly. He didn’t mean to get pushy, but they were just talking circles around him and it was becoming annoying. From what he could tell, it was his life on the line.
“Alric Burkhard, King of the Fire Dragons,” Warin replied.
North felt himself pale, his mouth suddenly dry. “King? Like with a throne and crown and ‘off with their heads’ and all that king?”
“Yes.”
“Though he’s not much on beheadings,” Gunter added without lifting his gaze from his phone. “Hoheit, we made it safely to Brussels and have located the mage.”
“What does ‘Hoheit’ mean?” North whispered to Warin.
“German for ‘sire.’”
“Excellent. That was fast work,” a deep, authoritative voice replied. North couldn’t say he knew what a king was supposed to sound like, but this guy sounded impressive enough to be a king.
“Yes, well, he was easy to locate with the distress call spell he used. I’m sorry to report that we’re not the only ones to take notice of the mage. The Jaeggi are here as well.”
Alric’s voice became a harsh whisper of words North didn’t understand, but it was a pretty safe guess he was swearing. “Is he okay? Was he hurt?”
North quickly shook his head.
“No, he’s fine. Here, I’ll let you speak to him.”
North’s head shaking grew more violent, his eyes wide at Gunter. Had the dragon lost his freaking mind? Talk to a king? He couldn’t talk to a king, let alone the KING of the Fire Dragons. That was just crazy. He was just North. A nobody from Georgia who might have gone on this quest more to escape his family than to actually find dragons.
He jumped from the bed and started to edge across the room as Gunter headed toward him, but Warin was sweeping in from the other side, a supportive arm wrapping around his shoulders. Okay, that was nice. At least, it was enough to catch him off guard and stop his retreat.
Warin got him settled on the edge of the bed again, and Gunter handed over the phone so that North found himself looking into the face of a very handsome man with dark hair and dark eyes. Were all the dragons sexy? This was getting to be a little disconcerting.
“Hello, I’m Alric Burkhard, King of the Fire Dragons. It is an honor to make your acquaintance.”
North couldn’t stop his eyes from immediately shooting to Warin. Honor? Was Alric confused about who he was?
“Hi, umm…I’m North…er…actually, my name is Fredrick James North Aldridge, III. My family calls me Freddie,” he said with a wince.