The darkness is quiet. So quiet Rakos hears the horses stamping far away, and distant shouts from the city.
Bell sighs and touches Rakos’s face. His thumb dips past the corner of Rakos’s mouth. “You aren’t a farmer.”
“I’m not.” Rakos covers Bell’s hand in his left.
Bell tenses beneath his touch, though his voice remains scarily calm. “Rakos is a common name in Draskora, but it’s notthatcommon, is it?”
Rakos lifts his right fist before his heart in salute, though he doesn’t know whether Bell will recognize the gesture in the darkness. “My name is Rakos Tem.” The confession is almost a relief. “Formerly wing-captain of the Draskoran dragon corps. Presently and entirely at your service.”
“Fuck,” Bell breathes. He pulls away, and Rakos releases him.
“I imagine you have questions. But I need to—”
“Why?” Bell asks. “Why this deception? Why did you… why did you go through all this trouble to lie to me?”
“I didn’t know who I could trust,” Rakos says. “I didn’t desert, that part’s true. I angered Prince Vana. That part’s true too, though I don’t know how. When you asked who I was, I said the first stupid thing that came into my head. I never expected…”
To fall in love with you.
“Never expected the charade to last this long,” Bell whispers when Rakos falls silent. “Fuck.Fuck.” He laughs, a strangely giddy sound. “This is too much, this is too insane, this is…”
“I was going to tell you the truth,” Rakos says.
“When?”
“When we got to the mountains.” Rakos rubs his face, still tingling with Bell’s touch. “When it became very obvious that Sarka isn’t my sister. She’s my dragon.”
“Your dragon,” Bell says faintly. “Of course.”
“She’s basically like a little sister to me.”
“I can’t believe this.” Bell rakes both hands through his hair. “I still don’t understand why. No. I know why you concealed your identity. But why bother? You could have just left me in Orthin. You probably should have, considering… My magic can’t be that useful.”
“It might be,” Rakos says softly. “There are these traps outside the dragonroost. But nothing I’ve done is just for your magic. I like you, Bell. I want to get you home. I want to—”
“Stop,” Bell says. “Stop, I need—I need to think.”
Rakos stops. He kneels in the darkness, waiting for his verdict.
“You asked me to be honest once,” Bell says eventually. “About things that matter. Not what I am or who my friends are, but about my limits. My needs and wants. The important things. I know I haven’t always succeeded at that. But you have, haven’t you?”
“Not really,” Rakos admits. “Sarka is very important to me, and I lied that she was my sister.”
“You did say that.” Bell’s voice warms with amusement. He pushes from the edge of the crate and slides into Rakos’s lap, forcing him back from his knees onto the wagon floor. Bell’s breath tickles Rakos’s lips as he continues. “Later, at the end of all this, I want you to remember how kind and understanding I’m being right now.”
Rakos’s hands move instinctively to Bell’s waist. Hope whispers in the back of his heart. “Bell?”
“I’ve been incredibly kind and understanding,” Bell repeats. “I’m serious, I want you to remember that later.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’ve decided what’s important to me,” Bell says, and seals Rakos’s lips in a kiss.
Desire surges like a tidal wave through Rakos. He loses his mind and kisses Bell back.
?
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
