Grimbold raised a brow. “I wager you can’t even claim a score of years.”
“A score. That’s twenty, right? Well, I’m twenty-two. What do I win?”
“What do you want, Walter?”
Walter scrunched up his nose. “You. I thought I made that clear. I said the ritual words. They were correct, weren’t they? It’s what our cloister taught us. I know there are other traditions from clan to clan. Should I say something else?”
Grimbold shook his head. “You don’t understand what you’re asking. What it means.”
“I lie with you naked and do what pleases you most. When my heat comes, you will plant your seed in me and I will endeavor to bear your clutch.”
“Or my child,” Grimbold pointed out.
“A Disgrace.” Walter slumped a little.
“My omega son or daughter,” Grimbold insisted. “Our child. Our omega dragon child. Walter, why are you doing this? Why now?”
“I thought dragons were cruel, but now I see that only some dragons are that way. It’s just like how it is onBuffy the Vampire Slayerwith Angel and Spike. You aren’t cruel. Not even a little. I want to stay here. Be with you.”
The idea made Grimbold feel a little sick. “You may stay here with me as long as you wish. You don’t have to barter your body for it.”
“But that’s all I know!” Walter was close to shouting. “It’s what they taught me to do. It’s all they taught me. How to please my dragon in every way. I have nothing else to give or offer.”
Grimbold shook his head. “No. I can’t. You’re worth more than…” He trailed off when it became obvious the boy was weeping. “Walter. What’s wrong?”
“You don’t want me.”
Grimbold’s dragon rose in outrage, threatening to tear through his body.Want. Now!“That isn’t true. But I am not sure you want me. Not for the right reasons. Oh, child, come here. Don’t cry.”
Walter obediently rose and stood before Grimbold. “I’m not a child.”
“Sit on my lap anyway.”
To Grimbold’s surprise, Walter did exactly that, curling onto his lap and wrapping his silken limbs around Grimbold. He still cried, but the intensity seemed to be waning.
“Sir?” Walter mumbled into Grimbold’s chest.
“Yes, Walter?”
“Do you think I’ll ever be worthy?”
The words were a knife twisting in Grimbold’s gut. “Sweetheart, you’re already worthy. No one can take that away from you.”
Walter smiled, but it wasn’t a happy one. “You are saying I’m not worthy. You want me, your dragon wants me, and yet you still keep telling me that you won’t touch me. I don’t understand.”
Grimbold paused. “My dragon wants you? How could you possibly know that?”
Walter wrinkled his nose. “Because that’s what he told me.”
“With… how?” Walter could communicate with Grimbold’s dragon? Was that even possible?
“With words. In my head. How else? He thinks you’re being stupid, by the way. He thinks that I’m his and he doesn’t understand why you won’t claim me. It’s making him cranky.”
“My… dragon?”
The boy nodded. “He’s the nicest dragon I’ve encountered. Some wouldn’t talk to me and others just growled and snarled and one…”
Grimbold squeezed Walter tighter. “Yes?”
