Mate Healer (9 page)

Before he was ready, the beast stepped away from Lian and the dragon shrunk to human-sized Nevair.

"Let's get inside before we really do start some rumors," Nevair said with a self-conscious smile.

"It would serve you right," Lian said, unrepentant. "I told you I'd return."

"I know. I know, but not all of me was in agreement. I had to come find you and make sure you were all right." Nevair's expression pleaded with Lian for understanding.

"I'm fine. See?" Lian held out his arms to display his body.

"Yes, you are very fine, but knowing it and seeing it aren't the same," Nevair said.

"So what, you're going to stalk me until the medical team arrives?" Lian asked.

"What medical team? When I showed up at the medic center they told me you quit. Bourne was quite adamant about your resignation." Nevair frowned.

"I'll bet he was." Lian quickly gave Nevair the run down while the other man made growly noises that would've made his dragon half proud.

"What do we do now?" Nevair asked.

The question niggled in the back of his mind. "How did you find me? Last time, you knew the name of the bar but I didn't give you any clues this time."

Nevair's sweet smile punched Lian in the gut. "Honey, I'll always be able to find you. I can't explain it. It's as if you have a homing beacon only I can see."

Lian thought about it for a minute. "I don't know if that's romantic or creepy," he said finally.

"Let's go for romantic," Nevair pulled Lian into his arms.

"Okay. You can't stay with me. You've got stuff to do," Lian muttered into Nevair's muscular chest.

"You let me worry about my stuff," Nevair said. "Nothing has higher priority than you."

Lian locked away his cynicism. After the newness of their relationship wore off, he had no doubt other things would take precedence. "Since you're here, you can stay the night. Tomorrow, though, you need to go back to your cathedral."

"Yes, dear." Nevair's amused response made Lian hands twitch with the urge to smack him upside the head. He resisted, barely. Besides, Nevair stark naked and needing wasn't anything Lian wanted to pass up.

"Let's go inside so you don't have anyone staring at your bare ass," Lian said feeling oddly possessive.

"Good plan," Nevair agreed.

Lian took Nevair's hand and led him inside.

Nevair let out a low whistle. "Nice room from someone you just met."

"I don't want to talk about them, I want to jump you."

Nevair's laughter quickly changed to moans when Lian dropped to his knees and took Nevair's erection into his mouth.

* * * *

Nevair admired the sight of his mate on his knees. He'd panicked when Bourne told him Lian had left. He knew Lian wouldn't have gone away without talking to him first. Not permanently. Luckily, Ellersby had stopped Nevair in the hall and told him the situation.

He badly wanted to ask Lian if there would be trouble over his behavior, but not right now. Not when those pink lips stretched so perfectly around his cock. Nevair had to bite his lip to hold back his orgasm as Lian's talented mouth swallowed him down.

Not only was Lian beautiful, but highly skilled as well. Nevair's dragon growled at how Lian must've gotten his skill, but no matter how many men were in Lian's past, they were going to stay there.

Stroking Lian's hair, Nevair came with a sigh. Lian didn't miss a drop, easily swallowing Nevair's seed. After Lian let Nevair slip out of his mouth, Nevair reached down and pulled Lian to his feet. "You are mine," he growled.

Lian's smiled but doubt lived in his beautiful eyes.

"Tomorrow we'll know for sure," Lian said.

"Yes, we will." Nevair didn't worry about what the next day might bring. Lian belonged to him and nothing, mark or no mark, would pull him from his path.

He helped Lian out of his clothes and into bed. His hands shook with excitement. "I'd like to suck you."

Lian stared at him for a while. "Oh, were you waiting for me to say no?"

Nevair laughed self-consciously. "I guess not. I don't suppose most men would object to receiving a blow job."

"Not usually," Lian agreed.

"I'm new at this," he said by way of apology.

"I know, and I find that really hot," Lian confessed.

"You find it hot that I don't know what I'm doing?" Sometimes he simply didn't understand his mate.

Lian smiled. "No, I find it hot that I'm the only one who's ever going to show you what to do."

Lian's kisses began slow and sweet but they quickly transformed into hot and toothy as he nipped at Nevair's bottom lip.

Nevair pulled back and laughed. "I thought I was the dragon in this relationship."

"Doesn't mean I can't leave some marks of my own."

Nevair groaned. "Leave whatever marks you want. I'm yours."

He couldn't put into words how much he belonged to Lian. When he found his medic missing, his heart damn near stopped beating and his dragon barely resisted the urge to rampage. Since Lian hung up on him, his new compad didn't help and the only way to find his wayward lover was to turn to his dragon half.

Luckily, Lian proved easy to find.

His brain short-circuited when Lian moved his way down Nevair's body. "Fuck me," Nevair choked out.

"What?" Lian sat up. "I thought you wanted to give me a blow job."

"I can do that later but I need to know what it's like to have you inside me. This isn't a one-sided relationship. Unless of course you don't like that." Damn, he hoped he hadn't ruined everything.

Lian's delighted smile assuaged Nevair's fears. "If you're sure."

"I am. Even if we never do this again I want to know what you experience when we make love."

Lian gave Nevair a long look. "Okay."

A weight tumbled off of Nevair's chest, relief shooting through him fast as dragon fire. Lian should've turned to Nevair when he had problems with Bourne, not a stranger. He'd talk to Lian about it later, after his mark appeared. He'd have one tattooed himself if he needed to.

"Turn over," Lian ordered.

"Why?"

"Because it's easier your first time."

"But I can't see you then." Nevair disliked the thought of not seeing Lian's eyes when he sank into Nevair's body.

"It's a better angle," Lian persisted.

Nevair shook his head. "No. I'll stay on my back."

Lian's sigh moved the hair on his forehead around. "Fine, have it your way."

"I hope you get used to saying those words," Nevair teased.

"Very funny." Despite his eye rolling and annoyance, Lian's touch couldn't have been any tenderer. Nevair jolted in surprise when Lian's slicked fingers circled Nevair's hole.

"You were carrying lube when you left?" Nevair couldn't let that stand. If Lian thought he could have sex with anyone else he needed a quick lesson in dragon protocol.

Lian grinned. "That would've been extremely forward thinking of me, but no, my attentive host has quite a collection of personal items for any guest. I think you're too innocent for most of it."

Nevair desperately wanted to look, but suspected Lian made the entire story up to get back at him for his suspicion. He vowed to check later when his lover left the room. Lifting his hips, Nevair spread his legs and gave Lian something to aim for.

"Sexy," Lian purred.

His growl, dragon-worthy and hot, sent shivers down Nevair's spine. His inner beast preened at the compliment. Lian tucked a pillow beneath Nevair's hips to help with the angle.

Absorbed in Lian's expression, Nevair jerked when Lian's fingers pushed gently inside his hole. "Sorry," he muttered when Lian pulled away.

"We don't have to do this," Lian reminded him.

"Yes, we do. I'm committed." Nevair kept his voice strong. He wouldn't back out.

"Or you should be," Lian muttered.

Nevair laughed just enough for his body to relax over Lian's intrusion. He had to give Lian credit; the man started slow and loosened him up before increasing the number of digits inside Nevair. After the initial discomfort he began to enjoy Lian fingering his hole.

"More. Inside me now." For a second his dragon balked.

Mine!
It growled. Nevair sent it soothing thoughts while he tried to keep relaxed enough for Lian's entrance.

With a great deal more lube, Lian pushed inside.

"Oh." He'd expected more discomfort, maybe pain. He hadn't been prepared for the feeling of connection, of rightness. In that moment he became one with Lian and knew they belonged together.

"I'm not going to last long," Lian said in low desperate tones.

Lian's face, stunning in repose, increased in beauty while sliding in and out of Nevair's body. Eyes unfocused, body pumping, the man made Nevair's heartbeat patter louder as an orgasm tore its way through his body. Without a single touch, Nevair came.

"That is so fucking sexy," Lian growled. A shout later and Lian spurted out his orgasm inside of Nevair and collapsed on his body. Nevair cradled Lian like the treasure he was, his dragon thoroughly approved.

"I'm not giving you up," Nevair warned. "I don't care if you don't turn out to be my mate."

Lian laughed against Nevair's chest. "I had that impression."

Chapter Six

Nevair watched in amazement as Lian stood in a white lab coat and took blood from over two dozen dragonkin, himself included. When Lian explained his predicament in getting a good number of test samples, Nevair had thought he'd have a problem getting volunteers. However, the hope of solving their fertility issues had dragonkin coming out of the woodwork to offer their blood.

It probably didn't hurt that Nevair sanctioned the study and Milot encouraged them to participate. Lian's people hadn't arrived yet, but Milot had put spies in the spaceport to keep an eye out. Nevair smiled when Lian scratched at his back. His mating mark had come out in brilliant glorious color that morning but apparently it itched. Nevair spent a good hour spreading lotion on the design before becoming distracted by the rest of the man.

Nevair's new communicator rang. He didn't look at the number, his gaze stayed on Lian. "Yes?"

"You need to get your ass back to the cathedral and conduct your services. The council is having dragon kits. They say you've abandoned your post and are looking to replace you," Tres demanded.

Nevair growled. "Only the goddess can replace me."

"I think they have a different opinion," Tres said dryly.

"I'll be right there. Someone needs to remind them of the sanctity of mates." Nevair wouldn't put up with that kind of behavior. He knew his rights.

"Mates?" Tres asked.

"Lian's mark came in this morning." Nevair couldn't keep the pride from his voice.

Silence filled the communicator. "Tres?"

"Um, congratulations." His voice didn't sound right but Nevair didn't call him on it.

"I'll be there in an hour," Nevair said.

"See you then," Tres agreed.

Nevair disconnected in time to see one of the dragonkin males get too close to Lian. "Hey," Nevair snapped. "Don't even think about touching him. He's mine."

The man held up his hands and stepped back. "Sorry, Pontifex, I didn't know you'd claimed him."

"I should make you go shirtless all the time so your mark is on display," Nevair threatened.

Lian laughed. "Yeah, that would show them."

The female he had just extracted blood from snickered at Lian's words. "He's adorable. You should give your mate a ring."

Nevair thought it over for a moment. A ring wouldn't be enough. Anyone could wear a ring for any reason. He needed a stronger statement.

He knew just what to give Lian once he could take his mate back to the cathedral. "I'll keep that in mind."

Lian set her vial of blood next to all the other vials.

"Why do you need samples anyway? Can't you see the poison?" Nevair asked.

Lian nodded. "But I can't see why. Besides although they trust my judgment I can't expect my bosses to take my word for stuff until I can give them concrete proof about the poison and hopefully its source."

"I've got to return to the cathedral. Apparently they are lost without me. I'll see you later." Nevair was reluctant to leave his mate but he needed to attend to his duties.

Lian nodded absently, his attention already back to his research. "Good luck."

Nevair chuckled. He'd have to get used to someone who had more important things to pay attention to than him.

Still shaking his head, Nevair walked his way back to cathedral, keeping an eye out for anyone following him. He didn't see anybody but he didn't exactly have super spy skills either. When he arrived at the cathedral, he found Tres standing on the front steps tapping his foot. His handsome face twisted in disapproval as he caught sight of Nevair.

"What?"

"Where is he?"

The sharp tone had Nevair looking closer at his friend. "Why?"

"We need to get control of him or the media is going to have a field day with your inappropriate mate," Tres said.

"Watch how you talk about him," Nevair warned. "We might be friends, but he's the other half of my soul."

Tres rolled his eyes. "Sorry to impugn the sanctity of a two second old mating. You can break it, you know."

"What?" Nevair had no idea what Tres blathered on about, his mind still remained on his mate.

"There are ceremonies to remove the mark," Tres insisted.

"Why would I want to do that?" Why give up the one man specifically chosen for him?

"Because he's not suitable. He attacked Bourne and then ran," Tres snapped.

"He attacked Bourne because the man is an ass and hit him from behind. Wait," he examined his friend's cold expression. "Since when do you care about Bourne?"

Tres frowned. "I don't care about Bourne. I care about you."

Except Tres's tone didn't match his words. Nevair wondered about the disconnect even as he saw Tres tremble with some unnamed emotion.

Nervous.
His dragon muttered inside.

Why would Tres be nervous?

"Are you going to tell me where he is?" Tres asked with a scowl.

"No, Tres. I'm not going to tell you where he is. He's going to stay hidden until his team arrives." Nevair's instincts were sounding warning bells like the village fire alarm.

Tres's face turned an angry red. "You can't do that!"

"Whoa! What are you talking about?" Where had he lost the conversation?

"I told the council I would take care of this and you are being purposely difficult!" Tres screamed.

"Because I won't turn over my mate? Tres, you need to forget about whatever plan you have. I won't turn Lian over to you. He's doing important work." Lian could possibly save all of dragonkin.

Tres snarled at him. "You're ruining all my plans. Take him!"

"What?" Nevair turned at the sharp pain piercing his neck.

"He'll come for you eventually. He won't be able to resist. Stupid dragons." Tres' face contorted into an ugly expression Nevair had never seen before. Damn, how many clues had he missed over the years? Darkness closed over him as his mind swirled with the act of betrayal.

* * * *

Lian had finished his last blood draw of the day when a panicky feeling struck him from out of the blue.

His head jerked up and Lian examined the room but nothing popped out as the thing that disturbed him.

"Are you okay, doctor?" Brea, a pretty dragon lady, asked. Her amber eyes glowed with concern.

Lian rubbed his chest. "I don't know. I feel like something's wrong."

"You're newly mated, right?" she asked shyly.

Lian nodded. The feeling intensified as he tried to put a finger on the source.

"It might be your mate. If your bonding is strong you sometimes share emotions," Brea said.

"Huh. I should've gotten a dragonkin mating handbook." Lian thought he knew everything about dragonkin. Coming here only showed how little knowledge he had.

Brea laughed. "That would be handy."

"Did you find your special guy yet?" Lian asked, curious about the woman.

She shook her head. "I've dated a lot but none of them have been the one, you know?"

Lian nodded, he did know. "Don't give up, you're bound to find someone and you've got a lot of time."

"True. Still I wouldn't mind having someone to share my life with." Her wistful tone had Lian appreciating his bond with Nevair.

Lian thought of all the years he'd spent alone since his parents' death and the past few nights he'd spent in the arms of Nevair. "Yeah. It is nice," he agreed.

Brea gave him an understanding smile. "I hope you stick around, doc. You're really good for Nevair. He's been alone for a long time and that assistant of his is crazy."

"What do you mean?" Tres hadn't struck him as too odd. The man was just doing his job.

Brea rolled her eyes before leaning in and talking in a confiding whisper. "Everyone knows Tres has been waiting for Nevair to give up on finding a mate. Why do you think he's stayed on as his assistant all this time when he could've gone on to do more?"

"What do you think he's waiting for?" Lian asked.

"For Nevair to give up and accept Tres. He's convinced himself they're mates and if Nevair has sex with some other guys he'll get it out of his system and pick Tres as his permanent mate. He must be shitting dragon eggs now that you've been marked." Brea smirked.

"Huh." Lian didn't mention that Nevair hadn't seemed so pure last night. "Thanks for the info," he settled on saying.

Brea patted his shoulder. "Good luck with Nevair. Sometimes it's harder to love someone who's in the public eye. I'm glad he found someone."

"Me too," Lian said. He didn't know how he felt about their relationship but he didn't want anyone else to get close to Nevair.

He'd fought most of his life against attachments. It didn't take a psychiatrist to know his parents' death led to his fear of intimacy. He didn't mind a good hard fuck from a next-to-anonymous guy but to bond with someone, to know them inside and out, that took an entirely different level of connection. Lian didn't know if he could live up to the commitment set by the mark on his back.

Lian's nerves didn't settle the rest of the day. He tried a few times to call Nevair but his lover didn't answer the phone.

When he'd finally finished for the day, Lian stood up and stretched his back. Looking around the lab he had to smile. His benefactor had done him proud. Apparently Milot did own a pharmaceutical company. Lian had no doubts the man knew to a dime what belonged to him, but he'd let Milot play the absentminded protector if it got him what he wanted. Besides he was there to help out the dragonkin.

Putting aside his blood samples in the allocated refrigeration unit, Lian took off his lab coat.

"Doctor, oh thank the goddess you're still here."

A young couple Lian had interviewed earlier rushed into the room. The man had his arm wrapped around his wife as they rushed her inside the small space. "My wife's in pain and worried about losing the baby."

"Why aren't you at the medic center?" Lian demanded. Concern made his voice sharper than he intended.

The woman, Carti, shook her head. "You can't trust them to take care of dragonkin."

"Why not?" Lian asked hoping he didn't know the answer.

"Bourne." They said together. The woman's face paled under her obvious pain.

"Come, lie here." Lian pointed to his medical table. It had a padded bench for people who became dizzy from blood work. A few donors hadn't taken it well when Lian had used a needle.

When Carti settled on the table Lian scanned her with his magic. "That's strange," he muttered. Poison ran rampant through her system. Lian quickly grabbed the vial of blood he'd taken from her before and double checked. Two hours ago she hadn't been infected.

"What did you have in the past two hours?"

"An apple and some water. I haven't been hungry today."

Lian would bet money she drank from the same water supplier as Milot. "I'll need samples of both. Do you still have the apple core?"

Carti shook her head, grimacing at the motion. "But I still have the rest of my water bottle. It's in the car."

"Go get it," Lian told the husband.

Without a question, the man tore off out of the lab.

"I think you've been poisoned. Your child isn't big enough to be born yet so we're going to change its mind," Lian said, using his best bedside voice.

Lian talked the woman into relaxing as they waited for her husband.

Keeping his hand on her stomach he monitored the baby's progress. "I think she's willing to listen to reason," he said with a smile.

"We're having a girl?" The man had quickly returned with the bottle and handed it over to Lian.

Lian grimaced. "Sorry, I didn't know you weren't aware it's a girl. What's your name?"

"Davin." He clumsily shook Lian's hand.

"Nice to meet you." Davin's DNA had showed up as one hundred percent human.

It only took a second for Lian to determine the water as the source of Carti's contamination. His inner eye saw hundreds of the poisonous droplets spinning around in the bottle. "Where did you get this bottle from?" It was a clear glass bottle, the kind people refilled.

"F-from the d-delivery service," Davin stuttered, stress causing him to stumble across his words. "Please, can you help my wife?"

"Yes." Lian set the bottle down. The source could be investigated after he purged Carti of the poison.

He lifted her shirt up just enough to expose her rounded midriff. "I'm going to heal you and then I want you to tell me everything you know about this water."

Carti nodded. Lian figured she would probably agree to anything to save her child. If it were his, he knew he'd want to. Lian placed his fingers on Carti's stomach. The procedure would take more finesse than he generally used. Too much magic could kill the fetus and possibly ruin any chance of Carti getting pregnant again. Too little, and the poison would succeed in killing the child. From what he could tell, the toxin only affected dragonkin because if Davin drank the same water it didn't show in his body.

"This might hurt a bit," Lian warned.

"I don't care, fix me!" Carti's voice, her terror stark and sharp, stabbed at Lian's heart.

"I'll do my best," he promised.

Closing his eyes, Lian focused a pinpoint of power across Carti's stomach destroying the poison droplets with surgical precision. It was almost like playing a retro video game where little beams of light annihilated the intruders, except in this case, the possibility of failure could lead to the death of two living beings.

Sweat beaded on Lian's forehead and dripped down his cheeks as he concentrated.

Carti gasped at the heat from his touch.

"It's too much," she whimpered.

"Hang in there," Lian whispered. "I'm doing this as fast as I can."

An eternity strung across a few short minutes and Lian's body trembled as the collection of muscles in his spine protested their stillness. In one breath-stealing moment, the small fetus's heart stopped beating. Fortunately, a gentle push from Lian had it speeding along again. When he finally opened his eyes he felt like he'd aged ten years.

"You're poison free," he finally got out.

Tears filled Carti's eyes. "And the baby?"

"She's fine." He didn't mention that second of heart failure, the mother didn't need to know that.