Page 86 of D'Vaire or Nothing
“Selti. Well, Seltivare, but everyone calls me Selti. You smell like azaleas.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Selti. Your scent is of sweet peas. Are you Tristis?”
Selti smiled. It was fantastic to know he smelled floral to his mate. “Yes, but my parents follow elven traditions at home.”
“Then I suppose we have a great deal to discuss. Our matebond ceremony needs to happen in the next seventy-two hours, right?”
Panic filled Seltivare, though he couldn’t identify its source. Perhaps it was the vivid picture in his mind of getting asecond matebond hoop from Fate after having intercourse with the sexy man standing a few feet from him.
“That’s an elven custom, b-b-but you aren’t an elf,” Seltivare stammered. “I c-c-can talk to my parents if we need to wait.”
Seltivare internally winced as he imagined how his mother would respond if he told her there would be no immediate ceremony.
“If you’ll have me as your other half, I will honor your customs and have our ceremony. We can take our relationship at a slower pace if you want, but the last thing I want to do is start off our lives together by breaking with thousands of years of tradition.”
“Thank Fate,” Seltivare managed. “My mother would’ve probably exploded if I told her we were waiting. I’m sorry, this is…overwhelming.”
Ashby grinned, and Seltivare went a little weak in the knees. “It is, but I’m glad to have met you.”
“I wanted to find my mate, and I’m glad to have met you too.” Seltivare ducked his head. “You’re very handsome.”
“I was thinking the same thing about you. This is incredible, but I wish my heart wasn’t pounding so hard.”
“It feels like it’s about to shoot right out of my chest.”
“No one adds that to the story when they begin tales about meeting their other halves,” Ashby remarked with a rueful smile.
“Nope. I wish I didn’t have to, but I must get back to work.”
“May I have your phone number first? I’ll give you mine. Please call me so we can make plans for our ceremony.”
They quickly exchanged numbers, and Seltivare waved awkwardly as he rushed out of the garden with his limbs still trembling. He wished he had the gumption to ask Ashby to posefor a picture, but thankfully, his mind produced a perfect image of the man Fate had brought into his life. Seltivare had been prepared for meeting his other half—or he thought he had been—but what the hell was he supposed to do next?
Chapter 2
Racing through the resort at a near run for the elevator, Bard Ashby D’Vaire greeted the family members he passed swiftly and breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator doors closed so he could get up to his room. There was no way he could’ve expected to have a fantastic meal at the swanky King of Clubs restaurant and waltz into a garden afterward to find his mate.
Seltivare was beautiful. His wide upturned eyes were the brilliant azure of Royal Family Blue sweet peas. That made sense to Ashby since the elf’s multi-faceted aroma of delicate floral notes and romantic honey was also a match to the gorgeous sweet pea flowers. The short layers of hair that hung slightly in the delicate high-cheekboned face of his mate were black. It suited Ashby, whose royal family crest included the colors black and blue.
Once alone in his suite, Ashby rested his head in his hands and breathed out slowly. For years, he’d wanted to find his other half. But the reality of an immediate matebond ceremony and building a life with someone was daunting. It wasn’t intimidating enough for Ashby to wish that he hadn’t met Seltivare or to keep the hybrid from tackling his future with every ounce of determination in his soul.
Ashby was surrounded by happy couples, and he damn well wanted to be one of them. Which meant he had to learn everything he could about Seltivare Tristis. Ashby grinned as he sat up straight. That wasn’t a hardship. Curiosity was consuming Ashby as the shock flittered away. What did Seltivare like? How large was his family?
Swallowing thickly, Ashby groaned aloud. Would Seltivare be willing to live at D’Vaire, or would Ashby have to pack his bags to leave the first place that had ever felt like home? Ashby’s earliest memories were absent-minded kisses from his parents as they left him at the home of a stranger. They loved to travel and refused to allow their only child to impede their desire to meet new people and traverse unknown lands.
In his teens, they had disappeared and never returned. Sadly, Ashby hadn’t known them well enough to miss them much. He was left withwhat could have beeninstead ofwhat wasand thrown into the hands of the former jaguar leader, Alpha Barstow Panthera. The man was a lout and insisted Ashby work himself to the bone to afford a high-rent apartment.
It wasn’t because he wanted Ashby to have a lovely home. Barstow believed he could appeal to the druids and have them reimburse him for the steep cost. Not that Barstow would’ve given Ashby a cent if his nefarious plot had worked.
In those days, the ruler of the druids was Killian’s sister, Aloisa. She was no better a leader than Barstow. The pair had engaged in a long legal battle with Ashby caught in the middle. Eventually, he was forced to leave the jaguars and join the Circle of Druids. Aloisa refused Ashby sanctuary and forbade him to join the company Dérive.
Founded by Killian under the guise of a man named Ghost, Dérive hired every druid they could and provided travel services for anyone willing to pay for a teleportation spell. Ashby wasn’t a powerful druid who could spend hours a daycasting group teleportation spells, and he hadn’t completed school thanks to his demanding work schedule. In a moment of desperation thanks to his lack of options, he’d applied to the lone multi-race sanctuary, Dra’Kaedan’s Coven.
It had changed him in the best ways. Killian had already been living there and hired Ashby to work directly for himself and his vice president, Sorrel. Ashby had finished school while learning the ropes of the company and made a good friend of Sorrel. But most importantly, Ashby had gained a loving family that supported him, protected him, and brightened every aspect of his world.
As a D’Vaire, Ashby had gained purpose, deepened his love for growing flowers, and lived out his dreams. Every wish but one. He’d wanted his mate. And now Fate had delivered the ethereal Seltivare. All Ashby had to do was dive in immediately to tie his soul to the elf and hope for the best.
Frightened, Ashby stood and paced across his hotel room. It was tempting to teleport home to his tree and tend his garden, but it was a rare treat for him to spend a weekend in Vegas. Plus, Grand Duke Brogan D’Vairedraconis would lose his mind if there was a lone D’Vaire at the estate without proper guards, despite their home being fortified by thick waves of impenetrable magic.
