Page 21 of Rifted Hearts
This close, the scent of leather and rain that Remi had come to associate with Kaveh was downright intoxicating, and the man was close enough that Remi could feel his body heat. It would be so tempting to lean in and kiss him. No, if Remi’s lust magic didn’t work, simply grabbing the man and sticking his tongue in his mouth certainly wouldn’t.
“Would that background have scales and a taste for golden treasure?” Remi kept his tone as light as he could, but all he could think about was running his hands over Kaveh’s chest and unbuttoning his shirt. Maybe there were scales over those amazing pecs, and the thought of that sent heat straight to his groin. He needed to get a grip on himself—and not the part he was thinking with right now.
“I have drakone blood.” Kaveh worked his mouth for a moment before continuing. “But I’m always as boring and human as I appear now.”
Nothing about Kaveh was boring to Remi.
“No one at the ranch knows that about me, and I won’t tell them about your background if you want to keep it private.” Kaveh searched Remi’s face, as if worried that Remi was going to run screaming out of the room. “You also don’t need to tell me what clan you’re from, if you even know. But I have a problem I need help with, and you might be the one person I could ask.”
Remi, against his will, closed more of the distance between them. The room felt too warm, and his pants were becoming uncomfortably tight. It was as if his ownmanipulative abilities were being deflected back at him. He had never crushed on anyone this hard before, and why his body was reacting this way to a man who wasn’t sexually attracted to anyone, much less him, was a total mystery. He focused again on Kaveh’s words, not his body. They had entered into a negotiation, and Remi needed to keep his wits around him.
“What do I get out of this arrangement?” Remi once again went with honesty, which was totally unlike him.
“I could do an interview with you and tell you about drakone society.” Kaveh took a deep breath. “It would surprise a lot of people, but I’m going to need to…move on, in any event.”
If Kaveh’s drakone clan planned to marry him off to whatever random person the Matchmaker wanted, they would also pull him back from his work in the monstertown clinic and the ranch. He’d be back in the drakone stronghold, with a bewildered and perhaps unwilling spouse, and all the people who depended on him for medical care for themselves and their animals would lose him. Remi rarely had reason to be grateful for his ratkind family, but at least members of the Colony didn’t have their life partners assigned by the malfunctioning matrimonial process that ruled the love lives of the so-called higher clans.
“All right.” Remi could hardly stay in character and not accept the offer. Any vid streamer would give up a limb for this sort of access. The drakones were beautiful, dangerous, and mysterious. An interview like this would be fought over by media outlets and be worth a fortune. “So, how can I help you?”
Kaveh pulled a metal object out of his pocket. It looked like loot from the heist of a Middle Eastern museum exhibit—a solid gold bracelet studded with jewels.
Remi had to shove both hands into his pockets. The temptation to steal it was that strong. But it was a Riftworld artifact, probably cursed, and trying to steal gold from a dragon was a good way to get dead.
Kaveh stared down at the priceless object in his hand as if the winged lions depicted on it would come to life and devour him at any minute. Then he lifted his head and locked eyes with Remi. “You said you knew about the Matchmaker. I need help finding the person it’s chosen for me.”
Remiand Kaveh rode back to the ranch mostly in silence. For once, that wasn’t the vet’s fault. Remi needed time to process the opportunity and risks that Kaveh’s offer presented.
Kaveh had asked Remi to help him find his…well, soulmate sounded ridiculous, but there were worse options, like assigned life partner. Remi knew a fair amount about the Matchmaker curse, as the Colony called it. He hadn’t understood quite how important it was to the drakones, wrapped up in tradition and also part of their religious beliefs. Kaveh asking a virtual stranger to help him fulfill his obligations to the Matchmaker seemed risky, even desperate. It wasn’t a step the vet would have taken if his relationship with his drakone family was as close as it should be.
Rhys had made marrying a non-drakone sound like a highly undesirable outcome, which might explain Kaveh turning to Remi for help. The drakones were known for their snobbery about who they considered beneath them—basically every other Riftworld species and especially humans. Maybe Kaveh had integrated into human society to find out more about that side of him and get away from hisrelatives. A drakone partner would be a step up for the vet, but Kaveh hadn’t sounded happy about the development even before he had learned his arranged spouse was a clueless human. He was being railroaded into marriage, essentially.
Remi needed to stop worrying about Kaveh’s feelings. His job was to help the Colony win against the drakones, and being asked to find the Matchmaker-assigned spouse by Kaveh was a huge stroke of luck. In fact, holding Kaveh’s future spouse hostage might lead to a quick ransom deal and avoid conflict that could end up with a high body count. In a way, Remi would be the good guy in all of this.
Sort of.
“How will this Matchmaker deal with you being ace?” Remi asked, tired of trying to convince himself he wasn’t a horrible person. The two of them were riding side by side through the saguaros, the late afternoon cooling off as clouds scudded in overhead. “I mean, if it’s love at first sight and all.”
“No idea.” Kaveh shook his head. “I’ve only been in a relationship once when I was younger, and we had grown up together in the keep. I knew him for years before I felt attracted at all.”
The drakones had raised half-human Kaveh in their stronghold across the second rift barrier and made sure he was protected. Interesting. Some clans didn’t let their mixed children live with a con-artist mother skipping from one catfishing scam to the next and then call the kid in to do their dirty work when he turned fifteen.
Remi pushed away thoughts of his childhood and focused on the diamond mine of information Kaveh was giving him about drakone society. Then something clicked, a crucial detail the vet hadn’t told him outright.
“Wait, if you grew up with the drakones, was Rhys your boyfriend?” Remi had immediately disliked the insufferable drakone when he had barged into the office, interrupting the first time Kaveh had touched Remi.
Damn, was he actually mooning over holding hands with a guy? Especially a guy who had an intended spouse Remi was going to help kidnap.
Kaveh stared down at his saddle for a long moment. Ranger gave a soft whinny, as if sensing the mood change in his rider. The vet gave his neck a fond pat before answering. “Yes, Rhys and I were together until the Matchmaker made their decision.”
“The decision to have him break up with you and marry someone else.” Remi couldn’t say what he was thinking out loud. As bad as the Colony could be, at least the ratkind weren’t ruled by the Matchmaker’s power. If a human or someone from another Riftworld clan married someone from the Colony, they became part of the family, for better or worse.
Usually worse.
But saying that would be insensitive, even by Remi’s admittedly low standards. Besides, Kaveh hadn’t pushed for more details after learning Remi was only half human, and that was a good thing. Remi didn’t have a solid cover story that involved a loving parent who wasn’t associated with organized crime. “Who did he marry?”
“He’s the matriarch’s second husband.” The words came out flat. “I’m hoping the person the Matchmaker has selected for me isn’t already in a romantic relationship.”
“And if they are, what will you do?” Remi asked. Kaveh might only be half drakone, but with the clan behind him, anyone currently banging the lucky dragon bride or groom would be smart to back off. “You could ride on in, throwthem on the back of your saddle, and drag them away to your hoard.”
