Page 98 of Dragon’s Ending

I stared at him. For one startled instant, all I could think was that Abimelech Mortimer had looked at Dominic and seen exactly what I saw.

“Of course he does,” I said, proud as hell.

He flashed me a grin. “Apparently he’s suffered some kind of catastrophic lapse in judgement.”

And then Rhodri spoke, quietly but clearly, his gaze fixed on the fire. “I don’t believe he has.”

I was still reeling from those words when he pushed his chair back. He nodded to us both. “I’m going to bed. Good night.”

“Rhodri.” Dominic’s voice, suddenly husky.

Rhodri winced before he turned around. I didn’t know whether it was at the roughness in Dominic’s voice or the fact he’d used his name instead of calling him Dad.

“How far do you trust what Mortimer’s said?” Dominic asked. There was something like fear in his face, perhaps at making himself so vulnerable by asking.

“And that’s the question, isn’t it?” Rhodri picked up the whisky he’d just put down and tossed off the last mouthful. “We have no way of knowing for certain, but on balance, I’m inclined to take him at his word. This makes sense of other things he’s done. I have no doubt that most of his motivation is so that we’ll look back and revere his memory as a great leader, but that doesn’t really matter.”

Dominic nodded, eyes thoughtful as they met mine.

“Night,” Rhodri repeated. “Put the fire to bed when you’re done.” He walked slowly out of the study.

Dominic stared into the fire for a long moment after the door shut behind Rhodri.

“Two hours ago,” he said eventually, sounding stunned, “I thought I might be exiled by the end of the week.”

I didn’t think it was Mortimer’s offer that had left him so dazed. It was Rhodri believing he was capable of it.

He met my gaze. “I don’t know what to do with any of this,” he admitted.

There was nothing I could say that would untangle years of hurt and doubt in a single evening. But I could be here for him.

I reached out to touch his hand. “I want to take you to bed,” I told him.

And he let me.

DOMINIC

I’d expected Ben to want to talk about it all first. To ask some of the same questions I had, and then many, many more. Instead, he undressed me with a gentleness that I didn’t quite know what to do with, kissing every part of me he uncovered in turn.

Which may have led to his making desperate little sounds into the pillow as I fucked him. Not as hard as he sometimes wanted me to go, but enough so that he’d feel me tomorrow. He wouldn’t be able to move without thinking of me, just as I could no longer breathe without thinking of him.

Afterwards he lay pressed against me, hand moving slowly over my chest.

“Did you give Mortimer an answer?” he asked.

God, he was so drowsy. I pressed a kiss to his hair. “Go to sleep,” I told him. “You can hold your post-mortem inquisition tomorrow.”

“Post-mortem inquisition?” I could feel his smile against my skin. “We’ll make a historian of you yet.”

He dozed off almost immediately, boneless and sated, but sleep was a long time coming for me. I lay there with him in my arms, loving him beyond anything I could express. The terror I’d felt when Mortimer had wanted to take him still echoed faintly inside me. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t.

I hadn’t even stopped to wonder what Mortimer could possibly want with him. I’d just known it would be really bad news for Ben.

For the first time, I wondered what happened when he finished the work he was here to do. It almost didn’t matter, I decided. If he left, then I’d simply split my time between his family and here. Assuming Evelyn allowed me onto her territory, of course.

I shifted slightly to ease the pins and needles in the arm Ben was lying on. He made a sleepy little sound and snuggled closer against me. I pressed a kiss against his hair, and tried not to think about my father.

I’d spent years learning how not to want things from Rhodri. Approval, affection, pride—all of that longing had been packed away somewhere deep, because wanting it when it wasn’t forthcoming hurt too much. And now, apparently, my father had decided to confuse me on top of everything else.