Page 14 of D'Vaire or Nothing
Mitchell dropped Pierson’s hand and grabbed his face in his hands. After flashing his killer grin, he sealed their mouths together, and Pierson surrendered willingly as Mitchell’s tongue dipped between his lips. He rested his palms on Mitchell’s arms and sighed happily into their embrace.
Pierson rarely took time for himself, but he’d prioritized every moment with Mitchell. However, they had busy lives, and it wasn’t often that they set everything aside to focus on nothing but each other. At least not for an entire weekend. To Pierson, that was the far greater gift the Emperors had given them that weekend—not the blank check they’d been given at the resort.
“I love you,” Mitchell whispered as he tugged Pierson close for a tight hug.
“I love you too. Are you done being mad?”
“I don’t want to be, but I guess I have to get over it.”
“We could always track down the Emperors and demand they let us pay for shit,” Pierson suggested.
“Is there a law against us giving our opinions to the Emperors?”
“While you don’t have every law memorized, you already know the answer to that question is no.”
“Given your expertise in laws and your knowledge of how new ones are written by our government, what is the likelihood of the Emperors adding a petition for the rulers of our Council to vote upon making it illegal for us to reject their gifts?”
“Since they aren’t petty like you, I think the likelihood isn’t that strong,” Pierson said.
Mitchell brushed their lips together, then dropped his hold on Pierson to take his hand again. “Do you think Drystan and Conley would fire us if we took our complaints to the Emperors?”
“I suppose we could ask them, but I don’t want to interrupt their weekend to discuss your inability to accept a gift from the Fate-chosen leaders of the dragons.”
“I’m not a dragon,” Mitchell remarked with a shrug.
“Obviously not, but the dragon Emperor was selected to the lead the Council of Sorcery and Shifters in 1807 by the Arch Lich, who oversaw the government at that time following the deaths of the previous Grand Warlock and Grand Summoner. Like every fallen knight, Chander resurrected us and our Fate-chosen rulers. So, one could reasonably argue that Fate had a hand in dictating who we answer to and that we should honor their decisions.”
“Sometimes it’s incredibly annoying to have a mate smarter than me.”
Pierson cracked a smile. “I’m sure you’ll get used to it someday.”
“Well, if I’m expected to accept this generous gift, I vote we make the most of it and go shopping.”
“A minute ago, you were ready to track down the Emperors to argue about your inability to pay for your dinner, and now you want to run up a tab on their dime?”
“I’m not in the habit of being extravagant, but you pointed out that this is basically Fate’s choice for us. If Fate wants me to buy a bunch of shit, who am I to argue with a goddess?”
“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the crux of my argument.”
“Whatever, Blondie, let’s shop.”
Since it wasn’t likely that Mitchell would find anything to splurge on whether it was his money or not, Pierson didn’t object to moving away from their little spot a few feet from the restaurant. He refused to glance around to see if any of their friends in the vast D’Vaire clan were staring at the pairand wondering why the hell they were having such a private conversation outside a swanky dining spot.
They walked past a small shop that carried a variety of essentials, and Pierson spotted Arvandus and Albrecht buying what appeared to be a couple of candy bars. The pair had left the restaurant not long before Mitchell and Pierson, so he couldn’t imagine they were hungry, but who was he to judge their need for sugary treats?
“Why didn’t they just get dessert?” Mitchell murmured.
“Who? Arvandus and Albie?”
“Yeah, as good as dinner was, I’m sure they had delicious options.”
“Which we didn’t sample because we stuffed ourselves with too much dinner.”
“We’ll go back tomorrow and save some room for dessert.”
“We can if you’re not going to protest about our inability to pay.”
“Blondie, I told you I’ve embraced this whole being pampered thing the Emperors are doing for us this weekend. Hey, is there a place here we can get massages? We should do a couples thing.”
