Page 82 of Soar

“It’s greedy of me.”

“Say it anyway.”

“I worry his only reason for coming here was to learn about how to use magic and medicine together. I’m grateful he’s here, but I want him to want to be near me too. I don’t know how I can reach the point where I matter to him.” Gregori drained half his cup of tea. It would have been better if this was vodka. “I sound pathetic.”

“You sound like a dragon completely enamored of his mate,” Rodrigo corrected. “Is he still so leery of admitting to being mates? Despite moving down here for you?”

“Unfortunately, he’s had a very bad dating history. Each ex-boyfriend hammered it into his head that he’s not worthy of a good relationship. It’s taken time for him to see I like living with him and won’t be angry with him even when he screws up.”

Rodrigo’s nose scrunched up. “How horrible. I better understand why he’s hesitant. Still, even knowing where he’s coming from, it had to be hell on you.”

Gregori fiddled with his cup, unsure how much to say before blurting out, “Even with all the languages I know, I don’t have the words to describe how much it hurt to be continually rejected because of who I am. What I am. There were times I wanted toscream. Other times I wanted to track down every ex of his and put the fear of a dragon into them. I still might do so, actually, as the reminder pisses me off all over again. Even saying ‘it’s been hell’ is such an understatement.”

Rodrigo reached out a hand and gripped one of Gregori’s tightly, the pressure and warmth grounding him. “I know it is. But as hard as it’s been, he’s now very vocal about never driving you to that again. He’s clearly repentant over it and striving to be a better partner to you.”

“He declared we have to go seeWickedtogether. Just us,” Gregori admitted. “It’s the first date he’s asked me on.”

“There. That sounds like progress to me.” Rodrigo squeezed his hand before letting go and sitting back in his chair. “Salem might prove me wrong, but he doesn’t seem like a big gesture kind of guy. However, I think he will fight for you. Just be patient and support him as you have been, and I’m sure he’ll come around eventually.”

“Thank you, Velichestvo,” Gregori said with a bow of his head.

A loud knock echoed through the office a second before the door opened and footsteps hurried across the tiles. “Velichestvo,” Thiago called out. He stepped through the curtains, his face flushed and his normally tidy hair an unsightly mess. “Forgive the intrusion. We need your assistance.”

“Is it Ravi or Ravi’s twins?” Rodrigo inquired, his voice a weary tone that made Gregori think this was a common occurrence since Ravi and his family had come to Brazil.

“Both.”

“I wish we could keep Sora for a bit longer but ship Ravi and his twins back to Alric.” He clicked his tongue and waved a hand. “But I’m sure no father would be willingly separated from his children, and no dragon can tolerate being away from their mate. Ravi and Sora are a package deal.”

“It would explain the regular gift baskets you’ve been receiving from King Alric recently with the thank-you notes.”

Gregori jumped to his feet and bowed to Rodrigo. “I will take my leave so you can attend to this…incident. Thank you for your counsel.”

He beat a hasty retreat out of the room before it occurred to Rodrigo or Thiago to pull him into whatever mess Ravi and his kids had created now.

While he’d been dreading facing Rodrigo, he had to admit he felt significantly lighter now they’d spoken. Not just because his king had been so understanding, but because he’d actually given him some words of hope when it came to Salem. They were making progress. Slow and steady progress.

After weeks of vowing to never go to Brazil, Salem was now here.

Grinning to himself, Gregori stepped inside of his apartment and crossed through the rooms until he finally located Salem half hidden behind a pile of old books, files, and even a few delicate-looking scrolls. When he’d left to meet up with Rodrigo, Salem had mentioned something about Sora sending over some “light” reading.

“Sora and I have very different ideas of what ‘light’ reading looks like,” Gregori said as he entered the room.

Salem’s head popped up and he gave a wide grin, making Gregori’s heart skip. That look made it all worthwhile. Even if he wasn’t the cause of Salem’s smile, he was just overjoyed to see his mate so very happy.

“All of this is so amazing! I just…I just never expected to discover so much healing magic preserved following the Great Dragon War. I thought it was all lost. When Sora and some dragons dropped this off, I couldn’t help but jump in. How was your meeting with the king? He wasn’t too angry with you, was he? Do you think I should go talk to him?”

Gregori held up his hand to stop Salem. If the mage kept talking, he was going to scoop him up from his chair and carry him off to bed. He was being too precious and adorable. It was odd. Since getting Salem away from the hospital and his tiny apartment, some of his hard edges had softened and he seemed more willing to laugh. Maybe he was able to finally relax away from the stress of his job, or the fact he wasn’t constantly being reminded by his meager living conditions that he was drowning in debt. Either way, Gregori was happy to have his mate smiling.

“No, the king wasn’t angry. Just worried about me. We talked and I reassured him I wasn’t going to be a dumbass any longer. No more taking stupid risks with my life.”

Salem released a heavy breath of relief and slumped deep in his chair, only the top of his head visible over the stack of books. “So even he has beat it into your head to never do it again? But in a nice way.”

“Heh. Well, it’s hard to say no when he did precisely that.”

“I like him more every day.” Salem gave him a sharp, speaking look. “You have learned your lesson, I hope, and I don’t have to keep an eye on you?”

“I promise you I have. No more pushing myself to almost dying.”

---