Mate Healer (7 page)

Instead of dragging Lian to the bed right away Nevair kissed Lian gently, almost worshipfully.

Lian pulled away to search Nevair's face. "Did you want to talk some more?"

"No." Nevair's smile hit him in the gut. "I want to make love to you. I don't want to rush you though."

Relief swept through Lian. They'd said they would talk but, really, what could they discuss? They were mates, or they weren't, talking wouldn't change that and, damn, he needed Nevair to fuck him more than he needed to talk their future.

"Rush away. I'm all for the rushing." Lian shouted as Nevair swept him off his feet in a storybook manner. "I'm not a girl," he muttered, feeling foolish.

"No, but you are my man and I take good care of my things."

Lian didn't know how he felt about being a thing but he decided not to argue about it. Sex first, complaints later.

Nevair set Lian on the bed. The cool fabric caressed his back when Nevair climbed on the mattress and settled on hands and knees above Lian. Their hard cocks rubbed together as Nevair leaned down to kiss him.

"Mmm." Lian's fingers curled with the urge to yank Nevair closer. Unfortunately his lover didn't have Lian's experience. Nevair needed time to explore Lian and learn another man's body. "Touch me!" Lian demanded.

He might plan on being more patient but he couldn't prevent his hips from arching up to increase the friction.

"Easy, babe," Nevair growled. "I'll take care of you."

Lian eyes widened in surprise when Nevair took their erections in one large hand and rubbed them together.

"Lube," Lian growled as their dry cocks slid across one another. "It'll ease the friction."

"Good idea," Nevair agreed.

Lian bit back a growl when Nevair abandoned him to grab a small container of liquid on his bedside table. How Lian had missed that before, he didn't know. "Come here often?" he quipped.

Nevair froze. "That." He grimaced. "That was just terrible."

Lian laughed. "I don't improve with time."

Nevair let out a long sigh. "I guess I'll have to get used to your horrible sense of humor."

"You think you can?" Lian asked, his words cutting off when Nevair slicked them up and began his delightful rubbing again.

"I can get used to anything," Nevair said, "but you I will enjoy."

Lian opened his mouth to argue but a particularly good stroke had him gasping instead. Whatever Nevair's experience, the man knew exactly how to handle an erection. Lian moaned, groaned, and sighed his way to a messy orgasm that resulted in his stomach and chest covered in cum.

Nevair released their sensitive shafts and collapsed beside Lian. "That wasn't quite how I planned that to go."

"Did your previous plan involve plunging into me and giving me the fucking of my life?" Lian inquired.

"Uh, huh," Nevair placed a messy kiss on Lian's neck.

"Shame. I guess we'll have to try again later." Lian patted Nevair's stomach.

"Practice is important if you want to excel," Nevair said in a prim voice Lian would bet good money Nevair had learned from his teachers.

"That's what I hear." He glanced over at his clothes and debated if he had enough energy to put them on.

"Stay."

Lian turned his head to examine Nevair who met his inquiring gaze. "Are you sure?"

Nevair nodded. "It's not exactly like our relationship is a big secret. I came after you in my dragon form. I'm pretty sure the gossip around town will be all about us for the next few days."

"Hmm, hiding here does sound like a good idea," Lian agreed. "I don't want to face my boss anyway."

"Yeah, I've heard Bourne is a bit of an ass."

"He doesn't like dragons."

Nevair nodded as if the news wasn't unknown to him. "Bourne knows some powerful people who keep that information from the kings. I keep meaning to talk to them about it but none of our schedules ever coordinate. I've sent a few letters, but I have a feeling all communication is watched."

"Huh, sounds more like a conspiracy than a simple case of the wrong man in the wrong job."

Nevair nodded. "I've long thought there was something suspicious about Bourne. Be careful, and don't let him take advantage of you. If he knows you're my mate, he'll either take it easier on you because he thinks you'll get him special treatment, or make your life twice as hard to prove he doesn't care."

"I'll keep that in mind," Lian said, absorbing the information.

Sliding out of bed, Nevair retreated behind a door Lian hadn't noticed. Someone had painted the wood to match the color of the stone surrounding it. When Nevair returned he had a soft, damp washcloth where he carefully wiped Lian down.

"I could get used to this kind of service," he remarked.

"And I could get used to doing it for you." The hot expression in Nevair's eyes caused Lian's deflated cock try to valiantly rise.

Nevair smiled. "I think it likes me."

"I know it does. I'll be happy to show you how much later," Lian promised.

"Good. Nap now. Personal exhibition and food later," Nevair opened his arms for Lian to come closer.

"Deal." Lian snuggled up to Nevair. Soon the travel and events of the day caught up to him. He tumbled into sleep.

Chapter Four

In the early morning hours, Lian stumbled into the medic building and headed towards his room looking for a quick shower and change of clothes. His body ached and he'd relearned how bendy his joints could be. Nevair might be a newbie in the man-on-man lovemaking department but he sure caught on quickly.

His lover had wanted Lian to stay and shower there, but Lian knew if his clothes came off one more time, he wouldn't be leaving Nevair's very nice bed. He couldn't make a good impression if he ditched his first day at work. He didn't particularly care about Bourne's opinion, but the people he would be helping needed to know they could rely on Lian. Especially if it turned out he was indeed Nevair's mate and would be sticking around. He shuddered to think of a prolonged time of working under Bourne.

El stood outside Lian's door, his arms crossed and his hair rumpled.

"What are you doing here?" Lian stared at his friend in astonishment. El looked like he hadn't slept all night.

"I was worried about you. Nevair is one of the most powerful men on the planet. I didn't have your number to call and when I went to the cathedral they refused to tell me anything."

"You came to the cathedral?" Lian opened his door and beckoned El in.

El ran his fingers through his hair. "Of course. I didn't know if he'd gone feral or what! I felt bad for abandoning you. I'm not dragonkin, so it's not like I can shift and protect you or anything. Those dragon claws would cut right through me."

Lian patted El on the back, guilt rushing through him. "I had no idea you were so worried. We just met."

"It doesn't mean I want you to be dragon fodder. Dragons scare the crap out of me."

Lian snatched his hand back. "What are you talking about? Why are you on a dragon world if you don't like dragons?" The inhabitants of this planet made absolutely no sense to Lian.

"It's not that I don't like dragons, I'm not Bourne. I'm only afraid of the people when they're actually a dragon. And to answer your question, I was born here. Neither of my parents are dragonkin, but we can trace our ancestors back six hundred years. I'm not going to abandon my heritage because I'm a little freaked by large reptiles. Most of the time they stay in human form and I don't go near the training grounds."

Lian put his hands on his hips. "Well, maybe if more people went to the dragon fields they wouldn't have people dying."

"Hey, they could've brought their injured here," El pointed out.

"Would you have? If the people who are supposed to take care of you really hope you don't live, would you trust them with your health?" Lian raised a brow at El's statement.

El bit his lip. "I suppose not."

An idea formed in Lian's mind. "What is your schedule like today?" Often, prejudices had a lot to do with lack of exposure.

"It's pretty light today. I'm supposed to help pick herbs in the medic gardens but after that I have the afternoon off," El confessed.

"Good. I'm going to check out my lab then go to the dragon fields." Lian would get El to go with him and help him over his issues. El seemed like a nice guy unlike Bourne.

El frowned. "What lab?"

"My lab. The one promised to me by the medical council if I came here." Lian's temper began to spike when he realized El had no idea what he was talking about.

El shifted uneasily on his feet. "I don't know if Bourne set up a lab for you or not."

"I'll talk to you later," Lian said abruptly. It wouldn't do any good to snap at El it wasn't his fault.

Lian took the world's fastest shower, threw on some clothes and stormed out of his room. "I thought I said I'd talk to you later." He ignored El jogging behind him.

"I'm a witness to make sure Bourne doesn't kill you," El said, panting.

After asking a few people in the hall, he found Bourne in his office, a sterile white room with equally cold metal furniture. If Bourne's goal was to make people feel uncomfortable, it probably worked, but Lian's anger ate away any unease he might have.

"I don't believe you have an appointment Dr Blythorpe," Bourne said with a disapproving look.

"I've come to inquire about the location of my lab. Dr Ellerby isn't aware I have one." Lian cast a quick glance at El, hoping the man didn't hold Lian's words against him.

Bourne pushed around the com unit on his desk. "Upon further investigation, I decided a lab would be too expensive to set up. I'm sure you can make do with what we have around here." Bourne gave Lian a look as if the matter was settled.

Lian pulled his handheld communicator out of his pocket and dialed, putting it on speaker.

"Hello, Medical Commission. Dr Joseph Staller's office, Lacey speaking."
The secretary had the peppiest voice Lian had ever heard.

"Hi, Lacey. Could you let Joe know Lian Blythorpe would like to speak with him?" Joe Staller had been Lian's mentor when he first joined the medics.

Bourne turned pale.

"Immediately, Dr Blythorpe."
The peppy voice turned even warmer.

"Is that necessary?" Bourne protested.

"Hello, Lian,"
Joe's deep voice boomed across the receiver.
"How are you doing on Dragait, my boy?"

"There seems to be a misunderstanding, sir. Dr Bourne doesn't have a lab ready for me and doesn't feel it's worth the expense to furnish me with one. I have him on speaker phone now." Lian didn't even look at Bourne, he was too angry with the man.

Joe's warm voice turned cool.
"I see. Dr Bourne, can you hear me?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"I know we sent you extra money to build Dr Blythorpe's lab as requested by the leaders of your planet. If he doesn't have one it means you've done something with that funding. Expect a full investigation team to arrive in two days. Lian?"
Joe snapped.

"Yes, sir?" It took effort to keep the glee out of his voice, but Lian thought he did it well.

"Go ahead and start collecting your research data. I'm sure we can have something ready for you within the week."
Joe's short tone indicated he'd already moved on to solving the problem.

"Thank you, sir." Not for the first time he appreciated having Joe on his side.

"I'll check on you later."
The line disconnected.

Lian put his phone away and faced Bourne. "Just because I'm willing to do medic work for the dragons, don't think I'll let you do whatever you want."

Bourne stood up, towering over Lian.

"Your support is far away. What do you bet I can do all kinds of things before they show up?" Bourne's face mottled with fury.

Lian realized the man who'd run his medical center like his own personal fiefdom hadn't expected Lian to do anything about his actions. He'd really thought Lian would fall into line like everyone else.

Fury shot through him and a low growl built in his throat. "If anything happens to me, they will crucify you, Dr Bourne. I might not be that impressive on my own but I'm not as alone as you seem to think."

Too angry and tempted to do something that would get him kicked out of the medical society, Lian turned on his heel to leave Bourne's office. He didn't expect a punch in the back of the head that sent him reeling.

"No!" El shouted.

Lian spun around, gripped Bourne's arm even as the other man tried to hit him again. Disoriented, his head throbbing, Lian did the one thing he vowed to never do; he used his power as a weapon. Instead of pushing his abilities to heal, Lian yanked, his magic clamped on its new energy source and began to literally suck the life force out of Bourne. When Bourne's eyes rolled into the back of his head, Lian released him. When Bourne collapsed, horror overtook Lian.

"Oh my goddess, what have I done?" Lian's body shook from shock at his actions.

"Run! I'll take care of everything," El said. "I'll tell the team what happened when they arrive. You can't be here when he wakes up. If he wakes up."

Lian scanned Bourne with his magic. "Oh, he'll wake up. I didn't take that much." He shouldn't have taken anything. He'd signed an oath to treat all life as sacred. He shouldn't have used his abilities that way."

Still shaky over what he'd done, Lian ran out of the medic hall. The buildings flew past Lian as he ran. He didn't know where to go. His heart screamed he should go to Nevair, but he couldn't put his lover in that sort of situation. He had already ruined the man's virginity; he didn't seek to destroy his reputation too.

Panting, Lian stopped in the middle of the street, searching for a landmark and trying to subdue the panic bubbling up inside. Nothing looked familiar.

"Crap, I'm lost." Luckily his communicator had a mapping device embedded inside. As soon as the team from the council arrived they could find him with his handheld. The society tracked all their medics devices in case of kidnapping or if they went missing. For a second, Lian considered tossing it aside, but resisted. Eventually he'd have to face the repercussions from his actions.

Lian examined the less than shining buildings and the cracks on the paved surface. Water ads promoting a new kind of vitamin water for dragonkin caught his eye. It had a picture of a smiling pregnant woman with dragon eyes. Lian thought the ad was kind of creepy but maybe it appealed to its target audience.

Noise drew his attention across the street. A fenced off field had kids zooming back and forth. A gasp left Lian's lips as he watched.

They were flying.

A dozen teens were on flying boards, whipping across a playing field where a complicated game of balls, hoops, and synchronized movements continued before Lian's shocked gaze.

Compelled to get a better look, Lian walked up to the fence surrounding the play court. The fast turns and daring acrobatics of the players enthralled Lian when he watched them whip through the air as easily as if their feet were on the ground.

"I gotta get one of those boards," he whispered, watching one particularly adventurous soul did a complete 360 in the air. The other team members whistled and shouted in appreciation.

Lian determined there were two groups, shirted and un-shirted, with six kids on each side. From the looks of them, none were older than eighteen. Fit, young, and flexible, they flashed through the air like beautiful birds. Their boards were in all different colors and conditions, some scratched and worn, others shiny as new coins with names of sponsors plastered across the bottom. Lian caught sight of another water advert with a young man holding a bottle. Apparently vitamin water was a big seller on a desert world.

Just when Lian became used to the ebb and flow of the players zipping by at fascinating speeds, two collided midair. Before Lian's horrified gaze the boys flew off their boards following the ominous sound of bones crunching. They tumbled to a tangled heap on the ground.

"Shit." Lian ran to the injured, his magic flaring when he scanned the damage done.

"I can't move." The kid on the bottom screamed while the one on the top lay disturbingly still. The other players dropped from the sky like birds to cluster around the pair.

"Let me through," Lian shouted, "I'm a medic."

A kid in a white shirt and black leather pants met him halfway, shoving the others aside and blocking his path. "We don't trust no medic, they don't like dragons."

"Get the fuck out of the way," Lian pushed the kid to one side.

Reaching the broken bodies, Lian placed his palm on the kid on top to assess the damage. Concussion, broken hip, bruised ribs and a few crushed toes, he could wait.

"Help me move him over." The one on the bottom would be worse. He'd broken the first boarder's fall.

Another set of hands leaned down to help him. Lian noticed with surprise they belonged to the same kid he'd pushed.

Anxious brown eyes met his over the unconscious body. "Are you a good medic?"

"I'm the best you have." He wasn't going to get into his qualifications in the middle of a crisis. The kid would learn soon enough about his skills.

"Help me," the broken boy whispered.

"Shhh." Lian leaned over the injured teen. Light blue eyes, filled with pain, watched him under a shock of black hair. "I'm gonna help you but you have to stay still and listen to me."

"Sorry," he whispered.

"What's your name?" Lian asked gently, not wanting to scare the kid.

"Connol," he replied.

Lian held his hand over the now still form. Broken neck, broken vertebras in the spine, right arm fracture and cracked skull were the beginning of his injuries. Without a medic the kid would die of internal bleeding before they left the area.

"Okay, Connol, I'm going to heal you now. I want you to count backwards from five," Lian said in his calmest doctor voice. "Ready?"

"Yeah," Connol braced himself as if preparing for an onslaught of pain.

"Starting on one. Five… four… heal." Catching the kid unaware, Lian slammed the shattered body with magic.

With his inner sight, Lian watched the bones slide together, melting like butter until they reformed solid once more. With the addition of more power, the internal bleeding absorbed back into the body. Lian didn't stop pouring energy until his inner vision saw Connol glowing green with perfect health. Only then did he start to pull back into his center.

Lian rocked on his heels drawing a deep breath to regain his equilibrium.

"Holy crap," the white-shirted kid said.

Lian ignored him and held up his hand. Pooling his residual healing energy into his palm, he formed a ball of deep green power. Standing, he walked over to the other injured teen. Tilting his hand to the side he dropped the glowing orb onto the unconscious boy's body. He glowed a deep forest green for a moment before convulsing on the ground.

Lian waited.

Eyes popped open and the unknown male let out a sigh followed by a sloppy grin. "I feel amazing," he said with a laugh.

"Me too." Connol jumped to his feet with an energetic bounce.

"Fuck, he cleared up your acne too," The white-shirted rider declared. "I'm Blaine," he said, holding out his hand to Lian.