“That’s alright. I’m not really a taxidermy guy anyway. Plus, every time I find one, I end up with an injury.”
Beal’s frown deepened and guilt flooded my core.
“I’m just not used to such over the top measures. Most of the guys I date want sex, makeup, or money. One dated me because he wanted to date my mum. Seriously, if one of them had offed a pair of guys who wanted to kill me for money, I’d be married by now. Just the knowing is enough, though,” I told him because it almost made sense that he’d bring me proof of his hard work. “I’m not used to severed body parts laying around especially on my pillow.”
“Get used to it,” Raiel teased me. “Beal likes to give gifts.”
“I could make you a cloak from Tops’s hide,” he offered.
“No, thank you. Though, if my mother gets to him there probably won’t be anything of him left to make a cloak from,” I said, chuckling a little.
“Are you taking him home?” Raiel asked.
Beal nodded and Raiel cocked his head to the side. At first, I thought the bartender had a problem with Beal taking me home, but they were talking over their group link. A moment later, Raiel waved goodbye, and we were off again. We were on solid ground, and I could’ve kept up with Beal. Part of me felt guilty for not offering to walk but he wasn’t out of breath and didn’t seem put out by carrying me around like a backpack. Every now and then he ran his hands over my calves and even through my jeans his warm touch gave me goosebumps.
We walked past several well-known Other World gateway sites. We could’ve gone anywhere on Earthside through those gateways, but Earthside wasn’t our destination. We cut through a small dirt path barely wide enough for Beal to walk down. Lush vegetation grew on either side of the path and I was extra thankful that I kept up with my allergy meds. Every few minutes one of the plants released a plume of bright pink pollen and little purple and green insects swarmed to gobble it up. We walked until the path met the side of a mountain. To our left, I spotted a cave entrance, but we didn’t head that way. Instead, we headed up. I tightened my grip on Beal as he scaled the rock wall. I wasn’t afraid of heights. I had wings after all but he swung from ledge to ledge as if it was merely a stroll through a well-lit park.
He let out a growly sound a few ledges from the top and startled me. My hands slipped but he grabbed my legs for the fraction of a second that it took me to regain my composure.
“Just letting them know it’s me,” he said, patting my calf as if placating my overreaction to his perfectly normal call out.
“I thought you guys had your own world?” I asked.
“We do, but we guard our own gateway. That’s why I know dragons don’t sneak onto our world and have parties,” he chuckled, grabbing the top of the stone and leaping up to its ledge.
Four men lounged in front of a door that looked as if it had been carved into another mountain side. They chewed on chicken wings and wore leather leggings and not much else besides feathery adornments. They all cocked their heads in unison when their eyes settled on me.
“He’s mine,” Beal said.
Were they going to try to fight him for me? I wasn’t down for that. In all the commotion, I hadn’t thought to ask about omega rights where he came from. I bit my lip preparing to tell them all off if I needed to but their faces broke out into wide grins as they sprung to their feet like they were liquid filled people.
Apparently ‘mine’ had a different connotation here. It implied something about mateship and really excited the other cat men. The tallest of the guards wrapped his arm around another one and pulled him in for a long tongue-filled kiss. I looked away with a scorching blush creeping up my neck. Would Beal kiss me like that in front of the others one day? I always tried to be proper in public because everything I did reflected upon my mother’s company but my mother’s company wasn’t here, and I sort of wanted him to push me up against the rocks and kiss me until I came undone. Kiss me until I didn’t remember that Jon broke my heart and lost his paw. Kiss me until I didn’t remember that my mother was too overprotective now and that I was probably missing important Shinny Butt meetings today. Kiss me until, well, until I felt better.
“Those tongue suckers are Cras and Iro,” Beal said, nodding in the direction of the men still kissing. The taller one had his hands all over his mate’s ass and they were pressed so close together that I wasn’t sure where one ended and the other began.
“These two,” he said about the men who had walked up and sniffed my hair, “are Cras’s brothers Miles and Luno. They’re usually hanging out here with Cras and Iro who are the guards for this turn of the moon. Everyone takes turns unless they have kittens. Cras and Iro’s kittens are grown. So, they’re back in rotation.”
I nodded unsure of what to say. One of the brothers sniffed me again and sensing my discomfort Beal hissed at him. They both stepped away.
“There’ll be plenty of time to get to know him later. For now, we’re off to lock ourselves up. Don’t let any dragons follow us unless it’s a dragoness who smells like him. Then again, maybe not her for a few moons either.”
“A few moons, aye?” Cras stopped kissing Iro long enough to tease as Beal started toward the door.
Beal half-turned and raised his arm to flash the group his arm pit. They all laughed. Was that their version of flipping the bird?
Inside the cave was snug. The ceiling was lower than I liked. My dragon pressed himself to the ground inside his inner sanctum as if he had to squeeze through at his full size. Fortunately, the cave expanded out after a few minutes of riding on Beal’s back and a few minutes after that we stepped out into a lush field where the sunlight beat down on us. After spending the last day or so in the hospital the sunlight was rejuvenating. I slipped off Beal’s back and took off my shirt. Glancing back at me, he followed suit. I wished I had my tote or a backpack with me because exploring a new place felt like the perfect time to have both of my hands free.
Beal held out his hand and I took it before realizing he was offering to carry my sweater and shirt. He reached out his other hand and took them from me. I smiled at him. I could get used to this being carried around and doted on thing.
“Am I going to meet the rest of your people today?” I asked him as we started down a path. Thankfully, this one was wider than the cave and wider than the path through the Other World and we were able to walk hand in hand along it. My hand fit so perfectly inside his that it was hard to think about anything else.
“Probably,” he said. “I thought we’d stop somewhere first. You’ve taken all of this on faith and I’m surprised about that. Usually when someone has a mate from another world it gets messy before it gets better,” Beal said and squeezed my hand.
“Messy? It sort of got messy, though, don’t you think?” I chuckled.
“Not all worlds like the idea of us. Not everyone would believe me about our bond—” he started but I cut him off.
“Feeling it through your aura isn’t exactly the same but it’s the same enough,” I said. “Besides, why else would you go through all that trouble? If you just wanted to do a good deed you could’ve called the guards, called me, sent a letter, or just killed them and moved on with it. I mean unless you really are a serial killer and I’m next on your list.”
