CHAPTER 7
Taco was confused and angry. He didn’t know where he was going, but he couldn’t stay in that room another second. Part of him wanted to shake his sentience for wanting to leave, and another part wanted to drop onto his knees and beg him to stay. Taco’s heart was hurting, and this was something he had never felt in the thousands and thousands of years he had lived.
Landing on the tall mountain that overlooked their home, Taco lay down, staring off at nothing. “Why would he want to leave us? I know he cares for me. I’ve seen it. I just don’t understand any of this. And why was he sobbing like he was? Did Gio honestly think he or Cobra would hurt him? He has to know that we would sooner lose a limb than cause him harm.”
The sound of Gio’s crying was still echoing in Taco’s mind. Gordon had asked Gio why he had been sobbing, but Taco couldn’t remember if Gio had even answered Gordy, but honestly, he had been so upset when Gio said he was leaving him, all he felt was his heart breaking, and all he could hear was a loud ringing in his ears. Hell, Taco thought he might drop dead until he realized he hadn’t even been breathing.
Closing his eyes, Taco thought that maybe if he just went to sleep he could wake up thinking that all of this was a really bad dream. Maybe he and Gio had fallen asleep after their picnic and he would wake up and Gio would still be Calvin, and Calvin would never have been shot and told them his real name, and then inform them all he was leaving them for good.
Yes, sleep. That’s what he needed to do. Just sleep and pray he would wake up and realize all of this was a nightmare and they could all live happily ever after.
Taco didn’t know how long he had been sleeping, when he was awoken by a sound. Opening his eyes, Taco lifted his large head and looked around, surprised to see Smoky flying back towards the house. Even more surprising was Lex walking up to him with bags and bags of Taco Bell. “So, I know that when I’m feeling down and out I like to eat my way to happiness. Well, I like to eat and since you missed your dinner, I thought maybe we could have a little something together, and maybe you would like to talk it out.”
Taco sighed, muttering, “Thank you Lex, but I’m really not hungry.”
“Depression eating isn’t about hunger. It’s about filling a void… or trying to. At least that’s what I remember someone on Oprah saying years ago. Now sit up, let’s dig into some of these tacos and you can spill your guts to me.” Lex said, laying a blanket out, and dumping what looked like a hundred tacos out onto the blanket.
“What’d you do, buy out Taco Bell?” Taco asked with a snort.
Shrugging, Lex said, “I at least called them ahead of time, so they could have the order ready and I got to ride on Solo’s Road King. Stone wasn’t happy about driving behind us, but there was no way we were going to fit all these tacos onto Solo’s bike.”
“I can’t believe he agreed to even follow you.” Taco said, making his way to the blanket.
Lex laughed, “He got road head on the way home. Trust me, he was perfectly fine with bringing the SUV.”
Taco wanted to laugh with his best friend, but he just didn’t have it in him. Hearing the happiness flowing from Lex was a wonderful thing. The man deserved to be happy, and with everything he and his mates went through to get there, with their maharishi being kidnapped and an insane man sending snow globes with heads in them… yeah, Lex deserved all the joy he was getting from being mated. It was just really hard for Taco to see it and feel the cheer of it all, when his mating was being flushed down the toilet.
Lex placed a gentle hand on Taco’s arm, saying, “Hey, it’s going to be alright. I refuse to allow it to be any other way.”
Grabbing a taco, Lex unwrapped it and handed it to Taco. “Eat, and when you’re ready, you can talk and I’ll listen, and then we can figure out what to do.”
“I’m really not in the mood.” Taco muttered.
“Trust me, Taco, this is going to help. Now eat the damn taco.” Lex ordered gruffly.
Taking the Mexican food from Lex, Taco ate the treat, and soon he found himself eating another and then another, until there were no more left. Patting his stomach, Taco murmured, “I don’t think I should have eaten that last one.”
“You’re a dragon, Taco. You could eat an entire elk and not get full.” Lex said with a laugh. Lying back on the blanket, Lex looked up at the stars, saying, “It’s really pretty up here.”
“Yeah, most of us dragons enjoy coming up here to just hang out and think. It’s therapeutic for most of us. It usually brings a sense of peace. Kind of like the pool does for the water dragons.” Taco replied, staring up at the sky.
They stayed there in silence, until Taco asked, “How did you talk Smoky into bringing you here? He usually doesn’t allow anyone to ride with him except for Jude and Casper.”
Lex laughed, “So he told me, and then Jude told Smoky to take my ass to wherever you were, or he and Casper weren’t going to have sex for a week, which in turn had Casper gaping and Smoky’s eyes were as big as saucers. Casper snarled at Smoky telling him he’d better do as Jude asked or he was going to kick the dragon’s ass. Smoky told me to get my shit and go. So here I am.”
Taco laughed, “You should know why Smoky was freaking out, since you have a maharishi of your own. From what I learned from Spirit, it is just as orgasmic for us as it is for you and your mates.”
Lex sighed, “You’d think I would understand how the hell this mating thing with my mates and maharishi would work, but honestly I haven’t been mated all that long and I don’t get the whole maharishi mating thing, or how my having sex with Solo and Stone is like having sex with him, and honestly, I don’t really want to think about it because it kind of gives me the willies. I mean I love Talpa with everything in me, and the thought of anything happening to him scares me just as much as if anything were to happen to Solo or Stone. I just don’t get how when we have sex it’s as if Talpa gets off just like we do. Hell, sometimes I think he has a better orgasm then I do and I can tell you I always have one hell of an orgasm with my men.”
Taco smiled, “He probably does. Think about it, Lex. As a maharishi we are soul bonded with our sentience as well as our agent. When you complete the mating, all of our souls are bound together, and for the dragon we can feel what you feel. If you were sad, Talpa would know. If you were scared, Talpa would know. When you find your release, all those feelings you have running through you run through your maharishi as well. Talpa has three soul bonds. That means he feels everything times three. We are all quite envious of him. Even Smoky and I heard him talking to Jude once and telling him that he might feel like Casper and Jude are killing him, but what a way to go.”
Lex turned to look at Taco. “So, if you can feel everything your sentience feels, why can’t you understand what’s going on with Gio?”
“Because our bond is not complete and from what he said to Gordy, I don’t see that it ever will be.” Taco muttered.
“I don’t believe that, Taco. I’ve seen the way Gio looks at Cobra, and I have seen how he is with you. Hell, everyone in Drago will tell you that Gio adores you.” Lex replied.
“Then why did he tell Gordy he wanted to leave us?” Taco asked with a harrumph.
