Page 11 of Gladiator's Bite
“Sex changes everything, right?”
“No, not always,” I shook my head. “Look, I want to have this conversation, but I can feel the sweat drying under my scales. I’m going to shower. You can join me, skip it, wait your turn, or whatever you want. I’m not ending this conversation, but I don’t want ingrown scales come tomorrow because I didn’t wash soon enough after rolling around in the dust with you.”
Sunny stood up taking me with him. I grinned as his muscles flexed as he spun in a circle, discerning which room held the shower. Then he headed that way without asking. Usually, I showered in the arena’s locker room but wasn’t about to get naked with my true-mate for the first time in front of anyone else. I didn’t want him to keep his hands to himself. I wanted his hands and mouth and dick and whatever else he wanted to rub on me all over me.
He grinned. He was better at picking up stray thoughts over the flight link than we gave any of the Moonys credit for. It was a nice smile and soon I hoped to see him wearing nothing but that smile that pushed all my buttons in the right places.
Chapter Five
Sunny
The Starscales were more utilitarian than a lot of Moonscales back home. Still, I expected the bathroom off the side of Laken’s office to be bigger. It was closet sized and for a second I wondered if we’d both fit inside. I set Laken down on his feet and found out that the answer was barely. Standing shoulder to shoulder we barely fit into the bathroom together. I glanced at our reflections. We made for an attractive couple. For a split second I wondered what our hatchlings would look like, but I knocked that thought away.
“Does that mean we don’t need to have the baby talk or that I need to grab the condoms from the desk drawer?” Laken asked, picking up my thoughts over the Starscale flight link again.
“What do you think?” I asked.
Shit! What a smartass way of putting it.
“That it takes two dragons to make an egg and you’re one half of that equation. So, if you don’t start speaking up about things we’re going to have this conversation a whole fucking lot. The links are great, but you don’t have unprotected egg-making sex without getting a verbal and enthusiastic yes from your partner or get in sign language if that’s how they communicate. However you get it --- damn thing has to be enthusiastic!”
“Well, since you’re the one carrying the egg, I figure you get the last say.”
“Not if the answer is no,” Laken shook his head like I just told him water was dry. “Look, do I want a family? Yes. Am I okay with waiting? Yes. Am I okay with not waiting? Yes.”
“Are you okay with going to Earthside for my carrier to see these hatchlings?” I asked.
“Ouch! I’m not wounded at you but at myself. I didn’t even think about how being that far from home must feel. The answer is yes. I’d go today to meet them if we could and that’s what you wanted. I’m not afraid of outer space or Earthside Wars or your carrier. I’m afraid of missing out on something because I was a chicken and I’m afraid of the people I care about not knowing I care about them. That’s it. Oh, and needles. When I’m carrying you have my full permission to sit on me if they need to draw blood. I’d rather them do it with a dagger than a needle.”
“Noted,” I nodded.
“No jokes, huh? Either Moonys are nicer than us or it’s a mate thing.”
“The idea of you flailing around panicking over anything isn’t pleasant,” I told him.
“A mate thing then. You’ve been warned they make me dramatic as a teenager who’s been told they can’t stay out after their curfew.”
“Noted,” I nodded.
“You don’t have to be so serious about it. I mean, carrying is serious. Health care is serious but even while it’s happening my logical mind is yelling at me not to be a fucking idiot.”
“Me making fun of you won’t help,” I shrugged. “Besides maybe you were poisoned or something in a past life.”
He nodded but flashed me a doubtful look. I still hadn’t answered about hatchlings. I wanted children and a family. I wanted a big family like my brother and his mate, Eston, had. I wanted my children surrounded by each other without a moment of peace because that’s what I loved about the time I spent at their house as a kid. At home, I was the center of my parents’ attention and I loved them for that but it also left me without peers. Not many kids wanted to hang out with the leaders’ son for the right reasons. Most avoided me like theplague, afraid I’d rat them out to my parents or something. Then again, did I want to uproot my family once we could go home.
“Why choose? Do we have to choose? Will your parents make a rule against living here and there? They funded the trip, if the gossip shuttle is anything to go on.”
“Can you live in two places, though, really?” I arched a brow.
Neither of us had undressed and I wasn’t sure what he was waiting on. I turned to the side and moved out of his way as much as possible in case he wanted the mirror. He opened the cabinet above the sink and took out enough products to put a model to shame and set to washing his face. Laken worked on his skin, zoning into his task and pay attention to detail. I watched his fingers as they lathered, rinsed, and repeated with different products moving across his face. When he finally dried his own flesh he reached out toward me and I ducked like I did whenever my carrier tried to slather me with something fragrant as a hatchling.
“Believe me, mate, you don’t want arena grit under your skin or scales tomorrow. It’s not normal dirt. It’s hypoallergenic and antimicrobial and antibacterial but it’s also made for traction. It doesn’t just fall off.”
Sighing, I surrendered to him. His hands were soft against my skin and nothing from his bottles, pumps, or jars smelled too horrible. It all smelled like him. I let my eyes drift closed and tried not to think of all the issues that had already popped up since we met. I wanted this or I wanted to go home. That’s what I had told Teddy the night before. I either wanted my family back right now or I wanted to find my mate. Whatever ancestor listening in must’ve decided it was easier to guide me toward Laken than to open an Other World Gateway on one of the Starscale worlds.
“We’ll do the moisturizer after our shower,” he said, patting my face dry.
He was close enough to kiss. Did he want me to kiss him, or did he want me to control myself until we managed to clean ourselves up?