Page 42 of Gladiator's Bite
Teddy was a good cook. The whole house smelled like purple potatoes, cow steak, and herbs and spices even before Selt showed up for dinner. He cooked most of the afternoon while Sunny and I lay around the living room. I considered suggesting we pack up the rest of his stuff but there was something cozy about laying around with him that I wasn’t quite ready to give up. Hell, maybe I wasn’t out of the matingmoon phase of our relationship yet.
Selt showed up early enough and came in through the back door. Sunny grumbled under his breath but didn’t budge my head up off his lap. I was grateful for that. His fingers played at the roots of my hair in a way that made my scalp tingle. We had a difficult job ahead of us. For years, everyone had tried to figure out how to connect us to other worlds. I didn’t think one little ritual would be enough to fix the problem.
Besides, by the time we sat down to dinner I still hadn’t picked up any vibes about how to fix it all. Liam said they showed up during the ritual, but I wasn’t sure Sunny was down to watch Teddy tie up a naked Selt to a kinky altar. It didn’t bother me. I’d been around the purple district enough times so that it lost its novelty.
Selt’s scent had evolved since I’d last come face to face with him. At first glance, he was more relaxed. At first sniff, he was less on guard.
“Maybe he just needed a protector,”my dragon chimed into my thoughts.
I wasn’t sure what Selt needed but didn’t spend too much time thinking about it either. Whatever he and Teddy solved for one another was between them and it was best left that way.
“You can tell them now. Best to get the idea out while Sunny’s mouth is too full to object before he hears it all,” Teddy teased them both.
“So, your grandma,” Selt started and nodded in my direction, “probably told you that I have elf in my family lineage. For any of this to make sense, we’re going to have to assume that it’s the right lineage. That I’m somehow related to the nameless lady.”
“That feels right,” I nodded after considering it for a second.
“That a vibe?” Sunny asked.
“Yeah. That’s a vibe,” I nodded and rubbed my bare foot over his under the table.
“Good,” Sunny nodded and took another bite of his cow steak.
“So working from that,” Selt continued, “we know that she’s motivated by her people being in danger. Maybe this won’t work because she really can’t open doors anymore but if there are people like her still out there maybe it will. Maybe they’ll be motivated by the same things.”
“So we dangle you off a cliff?” Sunny arched a brow and Teddy kicked him under the table.
“Asshole,” Sunny swore and Selt blushed.
I missed something there, but I left it alone.
“We simulate danger. We set off his fight or flight in a way that he can’t escape from it and we see if she or someone shows up,” Teddy finished up the explanation. “We talk to management down at Tails Up, Scales Down and we tell them that we need to do a ritual there. We will take it to the council if we need to. I mean, we probably don’t have to do it there but I’m betting it wasthe place in Liam’s vision and if we’re trying to recreate it that will be our best bet.”
I rolled the idea around for a second. My dragon cocked his head to one side and then the other, his long blue whiskers swaying in the breeze his massive head created.
“I think it will work,” I nodded. “But what do we have to do with that? I mean, I’ll watch, but I’m not playing that way with you two.”
Selt stared at his potatoes, and I shot Sunny a look to keep his mouth shut until we heard them out.
“It wasn’t that sort of invite. This is gonna make him say I sound like my dad,” Teddy said nodding at Sunny. “But while he’s on the table, I’d be in charge of the room. General rules are if you tie a dragon to the table, you’re responsible for them. We’re not planning on making it sexy so to speak but nudity and bondage bring an obvious theme to the ritual.”
“Again? What do we do?” I asked him.
“We’re not sure yet but Liam saw you there. I think worst case scenario is we shove you behind the altar and Sunny might have to help me subdue an angry person who thinks we’re actually trying to kill Selt. He’ll say that too of course.”
“So no ball gags?” Sunny rolled his eyes.
Teddy kicked him under the table again and he winced. I opened my mouth to say something but my dragon poked my insides with a whisker. The scaley guy was right. Teddy and Sunny had to work this out on their own.
“I’ll bring one for you to wear,” Teddy said through gritted teeth.
Sunny laughed and leaned back in his chair.
“So, we’re supposed to watch you play with your ---- Selt?” he asked a second later.
“We’ll figure that out as we go,” Teddy shrugged. “There won’t be any actual sex going on, though.”
“I still say dangling him off a cliff would probably work better,” Sunny said.