Page 51 of Mage of the Dragon Prince
“Because he is a terrible person,” Kitaro answered. His harsh tone startled Kisano. He had only heard his younger brother use that disapproving voice for Mitsuki.
Vanra smiled wanly. “You’re not wrong about that. That’s why I asked my brother to let him know things are over between us. They have been for a long time, if I’m being honest with myself. As for the other shifter, I think he cares about me as much as he knows how. But he’ll hopefully be pleased I’m done with my companion. He always urged me to leave the shamblesof my relationship. I wish I could tell him I regret not listening to him sooner.”
“Why did you not?” Kisano asked before covering his mouth with his hand. “Sorry, that was so rude.”
“No, it’s okay.” Vanra waved away his concerns. “I didn’t listen because I stubbornly refused to admit that things were over between me and my companion for a long time. He was never loyal to me. But I let it go on because I thought being with him sometimes was better than being alone all the time. Now that I’ve had some space to think about it, I realize how stupid I was for thinking that.”
“No, he is the foolish one for not loving you with all his heart the way you deserve,” Kitaro told Vanra. He reached out to caress Vanra’s cheek, earning him an arched eyebrow from Kisano at the overly familiar gesture. “Do not blame yourself for his failures.”
“It’s funny. That’s the same thing the other shifter would have told me.” Vanra’s smile was sorrowful.
“Why does that make you sad?” Kisano asked, unable to stop himself.
“Because breaking up with my companion means I will probably never see the other shifter again. We only interacted because of his relationship with my companion.” Vanra looked down at the table. “It’s weird. I’m not supposed to care about him, but I do, even though he doesn’t want me to. He’s someone who has lived through a lot of pain, and I just want to makeit better for him. But I always seem to make it worse somehow.”
“I hope one day he sees how fortunate he is that you care for him,” Kitaro said.
“The best I can hope for is that by breaking up with my companion, maybe I can become this shifter’s friend now. He doesn’t seem like he has many, so I’d like to change that.”
“You seem good at friending the friendless.” Kisano felt lucky that Vanra had offered him friendship.
Vanra smiled at Kisano. “Everyone should have a friend, even those who don’t think they deserve them.”
“We should celebrate your newly found freedom with dinner and dessert,” Kitaro suggested. He turned his attention to his older brother. “Would you object to having the servants bring our meal here so we can share it with you?”
Kisano’s heart filled with love for his younger brother, who was always so considerate of his feelings. “I would like that very much.”
“Great! It’ll give me the chance to get to know you better,” Vanra said, his happiness returning. “I have so many questions!”
The human’s genuine enthusiasm for befriending him baffled Kisano, but he was grateful all the same. He was glad Kitaro had brought such an unusual person into their lives. It was an honor to call Vanra his new friend.
Chapter 23
Kitaro
Vanra had been at Tatsuki’s castle for about three weeks when his heat arrived. Although Kitaro intellectually understood the concept that Vanra’s scent would shift, he was unprepared for the reality of the situation.
Whereas normally Vanra smelled like sunlight filtering through the trees, it had shifted to a tantalizing spiced wind on a hot summer night, when lovers met under the stars to join as one. It called to Kitaro on a primal level. He awoke rock hard as his dragon came toward the surface, eager to answer the call of Vanra’s heat.
The physical ache was much harder to ignore as Kitaro continued watching an unaware Vanra sleep. He tried to get in control of his body, but his dragon would have none of it. Instead, it urged him to draw closer, to take advantage of the fact that they wereboth naked. Kitaro resisted the urge, even as his dragon showed him increasingly sexual situations it could lead to, if only he gave in to temptation.
Vanra’s eyes fluttered open. “Hi.”
Now that Vanra was looking at him, more silver seeped into Kitaro’s eyes as his dragon tried to take full control. Normally, they were in harmonious agreement, so he rarely had to struggle against it since it was so well-behaved. However, today would be an exception.
“Kitaro?” Vanra sleepily asked.
Because of his dragon’s increasing foothold, Kitaro’s voice was an even deeper timbre than normal. His dragon all but purred, “You have finally awakened.”
The sensuous rumble sent a visible shudder through the human. It caused the faintest trace of arousal that teased Kitaro’s senses. His eyes grew brighter as it became even harder to push his dragon back into his cage.
“Are you…okay?” Vanra asked, although he seemed to struggle to find the right word to use.
“We have never been better,” Kitaro’s dragon answered. His silver eyes trailed over the parts of Vanra that were exposed from where the blanket had shifted overnight. It made them hunger for so much more than food.
“You seem…uh,differentthis morning.”
Kitaro closed his eyes as he forcibly shoved hisdragon back to regain control. His eyes were blue once more as he assured Vanra, “Think nothing of it.”
