“Again?” Sacha stared down at him and Gabriel nodded with a whimper.

  Sacha took a deep breath and nodded, a lusty determination steeling his hot gaze making Gabriel’s slick gush.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sacha

  If he never had to go through anything like that, ever again, Sacha would be happy. The pups fussed at every given opportunity. Sacha couldn’t sate Gabriel, nor could he find time to find enough food for more than the pups. He and Gabriel subsisted on sips of water and a few granola bars stuck in his pack.

  On the morning of the tenth day when Sacha woke, barely able to move and unable to see to Gabriel immediately, the Dette took matters into his own hands.

  Sacha was a Drake, and by that measure, he dispensed cock at his leisure. He was no stag, and therefore did not accept cock! Gabriel seemed to have forgotten that.

  “Saaa-shaaaa,” Gabriel whined, rutting gently against Sacha’s thigh, leaking a trail of precum.

  “Just a second, Gabe. Need to—” Sacha paused as insistent fingers wandered his backside, slitting between his cheeks.

  “You don’t have to get up… I can help myself,” Gabriel cooed, leaning into Sacha’s ear. “You never let me do that before.”

  Sacha wanted to balk, wanted to say something, to take over and help Gabriel with his knot like he had so many times before, but he was so tired and the thought of not moving sounded so good. Gabriel removed his fingers and brought them back, slick and warm. Sacha gave a shuddering gasp as a finger slipped inside of him, forbidden and insistent.

  “I can make you feel good, too, you know.” Gabriel’s drunken words sounded as sweet as his spend tasted and Sacha angled his hips up receptively. “Can I, Sacha, pleeaaaseee.” Gabriel’s insistent words became a whine in his throat as a second finger delved into Sacha’s depths and pressed curiously against his prostate.

  “If you insist,” Sacha groaned, propping his hips up a little better as Gabriel climbed atop him, angling his hips.

  His slender cock rutted against Sacha’s backside. Gabriel adjusted his hips, rumbling desire as he sought to gather slick along his fingers and spread it along Sacha’s backside, stretching him a little. “Would be so much easier if you made slick on your own.” Gabriel’s slicked tip pressed against Sacha’s hole.

  Sacha was so tired. The thought of not having to move made the growing erection bobbing between his legs bearable until the sting of pressure at his backside increased. “My Drake has never taken a cock before? Angle your hips. Right there, like that.” Gabriel pushed in, working with Sacha to stroke his dick against Sacha’s tender prostate. Hardness shot through his prostate, metallic and strong. Nothing compared to it, and his eyes went wide.

  With punishing force, Gabriel pulled his hips back and slammed his way down, making Sacha’s eyes water with the stacking pleasure. His delicate hand reached around Sacha’s hip and grasped his shaft, squeezing the base for a firm stroke. Gabriel’s thumb roved over Sacha’s tip, incongruent with the pace of Gabriel’s fervent hips. “Wanna come,” Gabriel hissed over Sacha’s back.

  Sacha’s unintelligible noises substituted words as he pushed his hips back, bouncing himself off Gabriel’s fervent thrusts. “Whatever you need, love. Anything.” Sacha whimpered, the noise far from one a respectable Drake would make. With that and a short squeeze of his insides, Sacha spilled in streaks over the moss beneath him, shooting wasted and precious cum right into Gabriel’s fingers as he, too, came. The sensation was strange, a hot slickness with a twitching pulse, and Gabriel choked on his breath before dragging his hips away and falling onto his back for a few slow breaths. “Holy fuck.”

  Sacha, tired and weak, patted around for his pants and stumbled across the cavern to check on the pups, curled up and sleeping soundly. “Thank the gods,” he whispered and went back to bed. Despite how dirty the nest was, with Gabriel pressed into the curve of his body, there was no place he’d rather have been.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Gabriel

  Gabriel woke in the wee hours of the morning, yawning the happy yawn of the well-rested and thoroughly fucked. Cold met Gabriel’s back, a distinct lack of Sacha. Silence met his ears instead of the protesting and playful noises of the pups. Gabriel rose and stood, following his mate’s scent until he found Sacha watching the pups in scales, wrestling in the dirt outside. A phone rested in his hands, one in a style he’d never seen before. The last time he saw a cell phone, they still had buttons. Nor was it the small computer that he’d showed Gabriel photos on.

  “Heat over?” Sacha glanced up at him curiously, and Gabriel nodded.

  “I’m in the last few hours of it. My mind is clear, at least. How’s your…uh… Did I really do that?”

  “Mount me?” Sacha raised a brow.

  Gabriel nodded, his cheeks growing warm. “Yes, you did. And it was nice,” Sacha spoke quietly. One pup growled, grabbing the tail of the other and tugged sharply, making the other splutter and hiss.

  “Holy fuck. Now I know why Drakes like doing that so much.” Gabriel scratched his chest lazily, enjoying the cool morning air on his bare flesh.

  Sacha smirked, using his foot to separate the wrestling pups with a warning click of his tongue. Surprisingly, they obeyed.

  “So, we’re leaving?” Gabriel rubbed his arm and shuffled his feet nervously.

  Sacha glanced over at him with a soft smile and beckoned him in. “I’ve called to be picked up by a helicopter. I’m assuming you have no documentation and neither do these pups. They’re bringing it for you. They have an old photo of you to use, which should do.”

  “Thank you.” Gabriel cleared his throat and found a water bottle being pressed into his hands. He tilted the bottle above him and lapped at the water for a second before he remembered how to drink.

  “Right. Lips.” He shook his head to sling the water off, sprinkling a pup, who gave an indignant yelp.

  “I didn’t dream this whole thing, did I?” Gabriel asked, and Sacha turned where he sat and smiled, tapping the carved marking on his chest to remind him. “No. You didn’t.” Gabriel reached around Sacha, and his fingers touched the barely raised edges of a marking, and he broke down into whimpering sobs.

  “Gabe? Gabe, did I do something wrong?” Sacha turned, and the pups scrambled over to investigate and rub against Gabriel’s heels.

  “No. I dreamed for so long that you’d come for me, that you’d have your clutch you wanted, then come find me when all you wanted was love. And in a way that’s true, I guess. I just… I didn’t know I was more important than pups.” Gabriel sniffled and sank into Sacha’s arms.

  “Honestly, the only reason I joined that den in the first place was to have you.” Sacha nuzzled into Gabriel’s side and sighed happily.

  “Thank you for getting me out of my head.” Gabriel nuzzled back. “Gods, I wanted to shift so badly for so long, but just couldn’t. I did the best I could for Raff and Mike.”

  With a shake of his head, Sacha separated from Gabriel. “Come on, let’s go get you clothed. I’ll see if I can get a T-shirt on the pups or something to keep them covered when we get on the helicopter.”

  “If these were any bigger, I’d have to charge admission.” Gabriel flopped his hand about, the sleeve of a turtleneck flopping over his hand as Michael giggled brightly. Sacha couldn’t tell them apart, yet, but they smelled a little different.

  ***

  Later that afternoon, a large helicopter settled down in a clearing a quarter of a mile in a bit of flat beyond their cave, signaling with a flare gun that sent the wild dragons of the area scrambling for cover. Michael and Raphael cried and squealed when the thunder of the blades turned overhead, and Sacha clutched Michael close to his chest as they made their trek.

  A short but sturdy gentleman with cold blue eyes and long, silken black hair greeted them. “You are in want of transportation?” He grinned with teeth a little too sharp to be human, and he scented heavily of Dette and a recently passed season.

  Sacha sniffed and stared. “Are you… You’re one of Shui and Sile’s pups. Suyin?”

  “Hello, Sacha, and yes. It’s good to see you again, Gabriel. I would say you look well, but you do not.” Suyin grinned and helped them to load up and get the pups into diapers. “You were not kidding when you said there were hatched pups out here. Are there any more?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “I’ve heard some crying out before, but either you got them or a Drake—” The words caught in Gabriel’s throat, and he couldn’t finish. “I search for them when I hear.”

  “Ahh. We need to be far more thorough. I come check here once a week in the fall and once a month every other time, just making sure we monitor who’s out here.” Suyin shook his head, sending his hair rippling prettily. “Now, let us get our asses home… Er… Butts.”

  “They’re not verbal yet,” Gabriel assured him.

  “Still, I don’t enjoy swearing around pups.” Suyin waited for Sacha to buckle Gabriel and the pups in, watching as they angrily fidgeted with the restraints and protested the noises until he snapped the ear protection over them. They glanced around with wide eyes at all the things, laughing as they took off into the sky. Being too young to fly, everything seemed new and novel.

  “Have you taken them flying yet?” Sacha ticked the corner of his mouth up in a half smile.

  Gabriel shook his head and stared fondly at the pups. “It’s been too dangerous. I didn’t want another Drake seeing them.”

  The scenery rushing by them had the pups wide-eyed and attentive, staring out across the landscape. Their inner dragons flashed in their eyes, the pupils periodically slitting. Sacha leaned forward, rubbing at their necks to calm them in their flesh every so often. Taking pups on a public plane was a disaster waiting to happen, and it weighed heavily on Gabriel.

  “So, can we charter a private airplane to get back to your territory?” Gabriel shouted over the din of the blades.

  “Sacha’s been keeping contact with us,” Suyin shouted over the din of the rotors. “I literally land on the helipad at the airport and all five of us get on the plane.”

  “Five?” Sacha blinked. “Are… Are you up to meeting Sile again after all these years?”

  Suyin’s expression went serious. “I’m not the Zhai—er, Dette that he wanted me to be. I’m not dainty. I do not want to wear effeminate clothing. I don’t want to belong to a Drake.”

  Gabriel leaned over and patted on Suyin’s shoulder, nodding.

  “Things are changing. Shui is fighting Sile to make Dettes equal. Last I heard, there is going to be a vote soon on whether the Dettes get their own council and I think you’ll be surprised at how, um…crass that Shui has gotten.”

  Suyin rolled his eyes and turned the pitch of the helicopter, casting Sacha a doubtful gaze. “I highly doubt Baba would misbehave.”

  “He called Sile a ‘fuckhead’ on the phone with me before I left.” Sacha shook his head, laughing as Suyin blanched.

  “No! Does he even know what fuckhead means?” Suyin blanched.

  Sacha took a deep breath before casting lingering eyes on an amused Gabriel. “He’s spent too much time with our wayward son.”

  “Leo? I think Baba has mentioned him. He said something about Leo being the only thing stopping him from strangling Zane.” Suyin banked and took them further down in a more populated area.

  “I think I will look forward to meeting Baba after all these years. Fu, I’m not sure about.”

  “Sile, right?” Sacha glanced over at the pups to make sure they were staying fleshy.

  Suyin nodded and, for the first time, Gabriel brightened with half a smile. Like years of dreams were finally coming true, hope blossoming in his chest.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sacha

  Getting the pups on a plane turned out to be an experience he never wanted to repeat. They were wild and snarled, flailing their arms with screeching protest, fighting scales the entire time until Gabriel could hold them in his lap, hugging them tight to his chest while a feral purr drummed somewhere in his chest. They calmed near instantly, and Sacha stared at Gabriel with a soft smile.

  Suyin squinted over at Gabriel and looked up at Sacha with a raised brow.

  “It’s difficult to purr while in flesh.” Suyin busied himself with some prepackaged snack, seaweed wrapped crackers of some variety that he munched, the crunch making the pups go wide-eyed and curious.

  “Pa!” Michael cried out.

  “Papa!” Raphael echoed, making grabby hands toward Suyin.

  “I’m not sure if they’ve had human food before,” Suyin said, staring down at his cracker.

  “Best not chance it. Even I’m not chancing it after it’s been so long. Here, boys, apple.” Gabriel grabbed an apple from a display of snacks locked down on the table in the private jet. Golden light poured from nooks and crannies accenting tastefully white leather-covered seating and luxurious modern-black accents. Everything was futuristic and garish, but every aspect oozed opulence that Sacha wouldn’t have chosen for himself.

  The boys stared at the fruit with confusion and Sacha leaned over to take the apple, using his claw to slice it into pieces. He ate one to show them and made lip-smacking and humming noises of delight before giving them a large wedge each. Sacha made the slices too big to fit in their mouths, because with only a few front teeth in their human mouths and a lack of comprehension for chewing, they might not understand.

  Michael seemed to get it on the first try, gnawing on the sweet and crunchy apple with a squeal of delight. Raphael attempted to fit the whole thing in his mouth and ended up licking the piece for a few minutes before gnawing on it.

  “There’s a shower on the plane, right?” Gabriel gazed up hopefully, and Suyin held his hands out to take one pup and Sacha took the other.

  “There’s clothes for you in the bag I put by the door.” Suyin waved him off.

  Gabriel paused, staring at the restroom for a lingering moment. “I miss pissing in bushes already.”

  “Modern convenience has its price,” Sacha laughed. Gabriel disappeared into the shower, the door shutting with a click.

  “Honestly, I’m surprised that you snapped him out.” Suyin poked Michael’s nose.

  “It’s only been twenty-five years or so. It wasn’t easy, but with the nestblossoms, being familiar with him, and his heat made things so much easier. He had regular cycles, so I’m glad I timed it right.”

  Suyin pursed his lips. “You heard him purring, right? You don’t purr in flesh. Either he’s still a little feral, or his hormones are going crazy.”

  Sacha shrugged. “Let’s not say a word. Gabe has gone to term with blanks before. His body sometimes thinks blanks are fertile. I won’t put that stress on him ever again.”

  With a cautious trail of Suyin’s finger down Michael’s chubby apple-covered cheek, he smiled. “Once Gabe is done, I’ll wash the boys up and get them dressed while you two rest. I’m sure his heat has you two exhausted.”

  “You sure you’ll be okay with two feral pups?”

  Michael blinked bright sleepy eyes at them, smacking his lips with the messy remnants of the apple speckling his lips.

  “I have a feeling they’ll go right to sleep after a quick shower. I bet they’ve never had a banana, either.” Suyin peeled a banana from the snack basket and mashed a little between his fingers and offered it to Michael. He sniffed it, narrowing his eyes before trying to bite down, catching Suyin with his teeth.

  “Aya! Gentle,” Suyin fussed at Michael, and he giggled.

  Raphael, feeling left out, screamed a note of protest until he got some banana as well.

  “Good?” Sacha asked as he narrowly avoided being snapped at.

  “Pa!” Raphael shouted.

  The only word Raphael truly understood was “Papa.” Gabriel was Papa and everything else didn’t matter. Food came from “Papa.” Warmth came from “Papa.” Everything was papa in his little world.

  “You know, if we find the next of kin for these two, you’ll have to give them up, right?” Suyin bounced Michael on his knee until the pup swiped for more banana.

  “I know, but I don’t know if Gabe can handle it,” Sacha whispered.

  Gabriel stepped out right then. “I can kinda hear you.” Gabriel tapped his head a little and frowned. “I…I don’t know if I’ll be okay giving them up, but if they were my pups…I’d want them back. I imagine their sire was a wild Drake. Their dam didn’t make it.” Gabriel scrubbed a towel over his head, sighing with relief. He smelled clean and wore a rather cute pair of relaxed jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Leo really favored him.

  “Gods, you’re filthy,” Gabe said, looking at Raphael and the smeared fruit over his face. He wasn’t very clean to begin with though. Gabriel took the pup and sent Sacha to go bathe next. Sacha didn’t want to be separated from Gabe for more than a few minutes, so he made it quick and switched spots with Suyin on his way back, grinning at Gabriel.

  “He’s going to go wash the pups off and put some clothes on.” Gabriel smiled and pulled Sacha farther back into the plane toward one of the soft covered beds. They weren’t that comfortable from Sacha’s perspective, but eleven nights of sleeping on moss and straw had taught him a new appreciation of pillows and mattresses. Despite the newly afforded luxuries, Gabriel only wanted to sprawl out and lay with his head on Sacha’s chest. Gabriel squirmed and huffed, groaning as the clothes on his body became inconvenient. Twenty-five years without pants had spoiled him. He kicked his clothes off onto the floor and burrowed into the soft covers with Sacha, clutching to him desperately.

  “Shh, it’s alright, Gabe.” Sacha stroked his head and listened to the turmoil inside of his mate, helping him ward off flashes of the dragon eating at his insecurity.