Page 26 of Delinquent Dette
“Dette?” The mark healed as fast as Frikka could make it, and it was too late to take it back. With a flippant gesture, he slung his leg over Sten’s lap.
“Happy hatchday, my love. You suck less than all the other Drakes out there. Even if Weston makes amazing nests.” Frikka jolted in surprise when Sten asked no questions, only drew claw and carved his dragon’s name.Loyaland something that had no direct translation, but was the twitterpation of dragons in a playful mood. Zoomies and wild romps. True “golden retriever energy,” as Leo might say.
“I’ll always admit when I’m defeated. You slay me, Frikka. But even if Weston’s nest is perfect, you’ll always be in mine come season. I promise.”
Frikka leaned into him and closed his eyes. He’d wondered what Sten’s mind sounded like for centuries. His dragon cried sometimes in want to hear the Drake’s heart.
My Dette, do you hear my heart?Sten’s mind cried out where their dragons lay deep inside.
I do!Frikka bit back tears as he absorbed the peace. And his mind was quiet. The gift that lay in a Dette’s mind to see the future, what made him a völur? It was gone. Why would Frikka need to see the future? It brought him misery, always watching for the signs of visions past.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking?Sten leaned in closer to Frikka, nose brushing the shell of his ear.
We stuff the remaining floppy penises in Artur’s mailbox?Frikka gave a bounce of excitement and clutched to Sten’s arm.
Gods, I love you. Never change.
Hatchday was a celebration of love, so when Sten nuzzled into Frikka’s ear, grinning, he listened with his heart. “What finally changed your mind, crazy Dette?”
Frikka couldn’t say for the life of him. It finally felt right. And it also helped that the two geese nesting by the pond, a bonded pair long descended from the jarl’s fine birds and the horrid beast of Sten’s old gander, had hatched their first clutch.
The male, Willy, which Cinder had named, did more than Orne did for the geese he bred. He tended Poppy, his female, and they bonded—mating for life as their kind often did under the right circumstances.
“Willy and Poppy’s eggs hatched this morning. It was like Freya telling me to move on.” Frikka sighed as footsteps approached, a large shadow covering them.Hallr.
“Come spring, I want an entire longboat filled with nestblossom for Frikka.” Sten grinned and Hallr shrugged.
“How about this?” Hallr leaned down and handed Sten two things—a glass vial, an old one where the glass had a hint of blue to it. In it had once been nestblossom, now lay only seeds. In his other hand, he held out a curl of tissue paper.
Sten unwrapped it and stared down at a single nestblossom, but something was different about it. The petals were variegated white and purple. Bicolored. “Boy?”
“I had a mutation. These are the seeds from them. I call them the jarl’s nestblossoms. They aren’t quite as strong as the wild ones, but they’re bigger and prettier. Plant them where you see fit.” Sten knew many places that could use the seeds. Their back garden and their old estate. The flowers would grow wild and free there.
“Come the weeks before spring, next, I want to start a new tradition.” Frikka stared up at the sky.
It would be their mating ceremony and a completion of the circle of their love.
Chapter Fifteen
Sten
Present Day - The Running of the Drakes
“Fucker!” Torsten kicked and shook his leg as a rather amorous, angry, and violent gander attacked his leg. “I was just trying to pet her!”
Frikka snorted and laughed, his whole body aflame with joy and delight. Sten had never seen Frikka so free as he’d been the past few months.
“That’s what Leif said before I broke his leg the last time he gave Frikka the eye hump!” Sten couldn’t help the little puff of pride in his chest at having his family all in one place again.
Sten’s phone rang as he sighed in utter contentment, Sile’s number patching in. The Drakes had all gotten permission to gather for the running and even a few single Dettes had agreed to attend—since Marc’s heat suppressants were proving very effective, a heat with a Drake was less taboo than it once had been.
“Do not tell me you want to run, too?” Sten listened to the silence as Sile caught up to what he said. It often was that way. The Drake was never prepared for what came from his mouth.
“Well, actually, yes. Shui wants to participate.”
In the background, a gleeful shout from his mate caught Sten’s ear.Fuck, yes! This is like the hatching day where I get much railed!
Sile gasped and whispered sharply, “Shui! Who taught you that word?”
