Page 45 of Dragon Keeper
“Do you need any help? I can chop; I know how.”
Tyr beamed at him. “Sure, chop away.”
Some of the vegetables that he dealt with were incredibly familiar even if they were strange colors. Green carrots. Some bright orange potatoes. Onions that were almost black, they were such a deep purple. They were fascinating.
Some were totally different than what he’d seen before. And for the most part, Sloan had discovered that he liked the food here. It was funny because there was less of, well, obviously there was no commercial food. No Doritos, no Sweeties or Snickers or Little Debbie snack cakes. Ohh. Little Debbie snack cakes. He might have to ask Corbin to procure him some of those. He loved Nutty Buddies and Oatmeal Cream Pies.
Of course, it had been a month at least since he’d seen anyone from up in the Rocky Mountain clutch. Life was busy, and Sloan had been down at the ocean. Guarding and flying andpossibly playing in the waves with his brother a little bit, even though he wasn’t going to admit that because Tyr had been up here working his ass off, and Sloan had been goofing off and playing with Fredda.
“Do you have cherries here?”
“Cherries…”
Oh, Sloan loved this game. “Red fruits that grow on trees. The trees have pink flowers, and the fruit is sweet. They have stones in the middle of them. They make amazing pies.”
“Ah, those grow in the city. We do trade for them. They are not a fall food, though, so they have long since gone. I like gona fruit for pies; they’re sweet and tart. Would you like one of those?”
“Sure, if it’s not too much trouble, and we have some.”
“I can trade for them. I have very many sun seeds; Jack likes them very much. He grinds them to make an oil and powder. I will trade him for his gona fruit. It’ll be perfect.” Tyr was just mixing and chopping and stirring.
“Maybe tomorrow. I think today is perfect with the soup and bread.” Soup and bread and his mate snuggled up in bed. Sloan could think of something much more entertaining than reading to be doing, in fact. He set his knife down and scooted over to where Tyr was working at the pot on the stove, slowly stirring the vegetables inside.
Tyr cuddled back into him, wiggling a little. Rubbing his ass against Sloan’s cock. “You’re warm.”
“And you smell good,” Sloan told him.
“Do I? I feel fairly good. We’ve done all of my work for today. We’ve got soup going. I’ve pulled the blankets out for the bed.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, I decided we needed a cushier nest. So I built this one. Also, I think I was missing you in the bed. You were gone a long time.”
“I was.” He had been. And maybe he shouldn’t have stayed gone quite so long, especially knowing now that Tyr was busy. Maybe his feelings had been hurt just the tiniest bit by being asked to go. “I can’t wait to see.”
“Well, it’s already up there…”
“But I’d rather be down here with you than anywhere else.” That warmed his Tyr up, he could tell. It got him a little shiver and a wiggle and a cuddle.
Tyr added the rest of the vegetables, a hunk of venison-type meat that would take a long time to braise. And then poured clean water over the top. A sprinkle of sea salt and some dried herbs from the little bags of seasonings that his mate kept in the kitchen, and then a lid was plopped on the huge, hand-forged iron pot. “This is going to have to cook for a few hours.”
That absolutely sounded like an offer.
Absolutely sounded like an offer Sloan fully intended to take, in fact.
“Can I tempt you into showing me our new nest?”
“I suppose you can.” Tyr grinned at him. Winked, scales rattling the slightest bit. Then Tyr grabbed his hand and started pulling him. Leading him on a merry chase through the warren of a house until they were at the top of the dome-shaped space at the door of their bedroom.
This Sloan understood, and he thought the whole scenario was incredibly timely. He needed Tyr. They needed to touch each other and show each other how they felt. It had been too long.
So Sloan took charge, grabbing Tyr and lifting him, which was no easy task. Tyr was not small like many omegas; he was solid and muscled from all of his daily hard work. Sloan wrestled Tyr into the bedroom and then they kissed, the pressure and heat of it perfect and wonderful. Kissing Tyr made him think of all of the good things in life, like honey in tea and hot coffee thatalmost scalded his lips but didn’t quite, followed by a rush of sugar because he put too much in the cup.
He put one hand behind Tyr’s head, the braids falling over his fingers, and slid his other hand down Tyr’s back to his ass, holding them together so he could rock and rub, his cock rising in a heartbeat.
Tyr wrapped both arms around his neck, making this noise that told Sloan he was not alone in this. Sloan squeezed, and Tyr arched up against him, kissing him with a sort of desperation that he didn’t ever remember having before. The heat and need of it made him feel ten feet tall and bulletproof, and he carried Tyr to the bed. He was simply unable to be gentle; he just plopped Tyr down and came down on top of him, wanting madly to get more of that honeyed scent that Tyr had rising from his skin.
Sloan always loved the way Tyr smelled, but today, there was something that caught him, something that pulled at him deep down in his gut and in his dick.
