Bonds of Fire

  ~

  Drekken woke up because his nose twitched and his stomach rumbled and his senses focused in on the wonderful scent of cooked rabbit. There was something soft behind his head and he was half propped up and he stretched instinctively. His shoulder ached a little, but it was not the much reduced pain that then woke him more quickly, it was a start of alarm when he realised that his movement met resistance. However, he opened his eyes first and any further reaction came to a stunned and conflicted halt, because it was not Feras binders that were holding him, it was dragon. Baby D was still curled up in his lap fast asleep, but sometime since Drekken had fallen asleep, she had been joined by all five of her fellow orphans.

  Ghemas was lying partly on the rock against which Drekken was propped, but her front quarters and head were draped down over his right shoulder. Keril was tucked between his right arm and his hip, lying over his wrist and Renar had the whole left side of his torso pinned with just head and one leg. Isthy and Misthy, the Sandy twins, finished his sleeping restraints draped over his thighs and shins respectively.

  His movements so far had not awoken the sleeping children, but Drekken stilled completely, uncomfortable with becoming a human pillow, but at the same time not wanting to wake the hatchlings. Malachi was kneeling at the edge of the fire, slicing up their dinner and Drekken appealed to him in a whisper, "Hey."

  The youth looked up and smiled, but continued unhelpfully with his task.

  "Sleep well?" breath and sound touched his ear and made Drekken shiver and shift as a mixture of surprise and pleasure skittered out from the contact.

  Ghemas grumbled in her sleep at the sudden movement, but did not wake and Drekken relaxed again, gingerly turning his head to find Yakov lying supine over the rock ledge to the left of his head. The young man gave him an upside down smile and, almost cheek to cheek and still a little sleepy, Drekken forgot about the dragons for a moment and lost himself in those blue eyes.

  "I seem to be pinned down by dragons," Drekken eventually forced himself to speak, because much more of the teasing that had been going on since he had sealed them in the cave and his reaction would not be suitable for children.

  "You give off dragon vibes," Yakov returned in the silkiest voice Drekken had ever heard.

  From the dilation in Yakov's pupils, it was clear that, although that comforted the hatchlings, it did something entirely different to his friend.

  "Why are you flirting with me?" Drekken decided to be blunt.

  Yakov's grin grew wider and Drekken heard Malachi snort a laugh, but he concentrated on Yakov, playing with the nice feelings that the youth's attention generated in him.

  "Don't you like it?" Yakov skirted the question, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

  "You are spoken for," Drekken retorted quietly, so as not to wake the youngsters, but his tone suggested rather more of what he was feeling than any reproof.

  "So?"

  It was Malachi who spoke then and caught Drekken's attention. He glanced at the youth, who stood up and walked around the fire to Yakov's ledge, holding Drekken all the way with what Drekken was discovering could be a very sultry set to his features for one so young. It had been a long time since Drekken had been taken in by a handsome face, let alone two of them, and he was close to blaming Baby D's effect on him for his unguarded reactions. Yet, the feeling was nice, if disconcerting.

  Drekken followed with his eyes as Malachi, now half dressed in just his tunic trousers, crossed over to Yakov's ledge and sat down on the edge. Yakov was still completely naked and Malachi ran a hand over his companion's stomach, causing Yakov to close his eyes, arch his neck and make the most delicious noise. Drekken couldn't see the whole movement from his position, which made what he could see and hear all the more tantalising as now his reasons for hoping the babies did not wake became less altruistic.

  "Don't tell me a worldly flier like you is restricted by pair-thinking," Malachi teased as Yakov continued to rumble his appreciation of the stroking.

  Drekken just drew in a very long breath at that and Malachi smiled at him.

  "We always come as a pair," Yakov surprised Drekken by turning his head and fixing him with a dilated-pupils stare and the double entendre had the desired effect.

  "I'm sure you do," Drekken returned, giving the youths his sexiest smile.

  The back of Drekken's mind reminded him he was a baby dragon cushion, which kept his reactions in check, but the rest of him sunk into the second tease of the evening where at least his mind could play and he knew how to play with empaths. Drekken didn't consider himself to have an overly dirty mind, not more so than any other male, anyway, but he did not need any more encouragement from his titillating companions to conjure up that innuendo in his head and he let his arousal build. He knew it would not be long before physical followed mental, which would mean an end to the game, but Drekken indulged his libido and was pleased by the way Malachi's position slouched a little and that heavy gaze glazed over and Yakov was open-mouthed with desire.

  "Not so restricted then," Malachi managed, but his eyes had become hooded as he soaked up Drekken's potent projection.

  "You know nothing about me," Drekken lazily challenged the older youth's opinion.

  However, it was Yakov who responded to that, rolling over and then Drekken's vision was full of the blond's upside down face.

  "We know that you took on two complete strangers and a bunch of babies when it would have been much easier for you to get over these mountains on your own," Yakov told him earnestly and before Drekken could respond about duty, continued, "and that you made a leap of faith to save the life of a child, and that you gave us all your rations when we were hungry, and..."

  It sounded like Yakov was going to go on all night, which, although flattering, was not the moment Drekken wanted to remember. His desire and the practical method for shutting Yakov up coincided when Drekken went with his gut, strained his neck up and pressed his lips hard against Yakov's. Starts of excitement met his action and morphed into a rush of pleasure as Yakov, after an initial freeze, pushed Drekken back down against the rock. It felt strange being upside down, but Yakov's lips were just as vital as Drekken's imagination had been hoping and the helpless moan that broke through the kiss stroked his ego as well as his libido.

  De to the fact he was pinned down by dragons, Drekken lost control of the kiss, which was an unusual experience, but Yakov knew how to use his lips, teeth and tongue, so Drekken had no complaints. However, the physical encounter was not localised to his mouth and Drekken felt other parts of his body stirring. If he had not been naked, he would not have been so concerned, but the cloth of Baby D's sling would not conceal his arousal from the children, so, reluctantly and with slightly more force than he was intending, he broke the kiss and, breathing hard, sat forward.

  With such a dramatic movement, the inevitable happened, and young eyes began to open. Yakov looked disappointed, Malachi slightly amused, but Drekken shot them an apologetic wink before he began to extricate himself from waking hatchlings.

  "Sorry, guys," he told them gently, "it's dinner time."

  That caused Renar at least to wake up rather more quickly and, as soon as he could move his arm, Drekken leant over and grabbed his flight suit. Then as Keril also shifted, he scooped up Baby D with his other hand and slid the more substantial material over his lap. Malachi laughed and headed round the fire to the rabbit, but Yakov whined and collapsed onto his back. Drekken didn't dare look to check how much Yakov had been enjoying things, but he guessed from the sounds his companion was making that the answer was, considerably.