Page 54 of Bartender Mate

I reached out in the direction of my newest mate with kissy lips but got a face full of Asteroid’s chest instead. She huffed a laugh at my sleepy pout.

“Not what I had in mind,” Tess said, the jingle of her belt confused everything in my sleep-addled brain, my pout deepening further. “But you’re going to love it.”

“You sound like you’re wearing pants,” I grumbled. “It’s too early for surprises which require pants.” Despite my protest, I rolled out of bed and reached for a discarded pair of jeans, only ever opening one eye. A quick glance out the window said that the sun hadn’t even crested the horizon yet. “Much too early for pants.”

“I promise you can crawl back into bed soon,” Tess whispered. Her grin was wide enough to cast its own sunshine, stopping me in my tracks with one leg in and one leg out of the denim. My mate was resplendent. When she saw my predicament, she flapped her hands at me, prompting me to get moving. “But if you want to see it, you need to come now.”

Hastening to obey, I pulled the jeans the rest of the way on and followed her from the room.

Tess had to have been up for some time as there was a tray filled with pastries and mugs of steaming liquid waiting out on the kitchen counter. The scent rising from the cups was a mixture of warming herbs and the acidic bite of coffee which our mate drank liberally and often.

“When I was younger, my uncle would wake me before sunrise, bundle us both up in sweaters and blankets, and then we would have breakfast on the patio.” Tess picked up the tray, hip checking the front door to her apartment and heading down the steps. “It was our special time. Just before dawn breaks. I wanted to share it with you.”

At the bottom of the stairs, she turned and looked up at me, nibbling on her lower lip. “Also, I owe you an apology.”

“You owe me nothing, mate,” I told her, my heart squeezing at the thought of something weighing on her. “You accepted our bond, everything else will work itself out.”

“Yeah, but that’s not how this works.” Tess shrugged and headed to the door, trusting me to follow. Which, of course, I did, without question. I would follow this woman anywhere. “He wasn’t brilliant at everything, my uncle. You’ve heard the stories. But, when I was drowning in grief, somehow he got me out of bed and led me here. To show me something beautiful. Something that no one could take away. The moments just before dawn became a safe space for me. A place where all was peaceful and right.” Opening the front door of Last Chance Bar, my mate drew in a long, slow breath of the icy air. “Even with my uncle gone, I still come out here to drink my coffee–admittedly sometimes with a healthy dose of whiskey in it–to watch the sun rise over the mountains.”

On the porch was a small swing, just big enough for one Drakon male and a human mate, and a plush blanket slung over the back. Tess set down her bounty on the table next to the swing and picked up the blanket. “Why didn't you wake the others, too?” I asked as she beckoned me over, motioning for me to sit. “Shouldn’t we all take part in this ritual with you?”

“I asked the others to give us a moment alone,” my mate answered, curling herself up in my lap as she tucked the blanket around us. The chilly temperatures didn’t bother me, but her skin was dotted with little bumps, the fine hair on her arms standing on end. “I wanted to apologize to you.”

“That word again.” I ran my thumb down the line of her jaw, tipping her head up to me and leaving a light kiss on her lips. “You have nothing to say you’re sorry over, Tess. If anyone should apologize, that would be me.”

I curled my tail around her hips and tugged my mate closer. I knew my cock had to be uncomfortably poking her in the ass, but she didn’t complain. Just wriggled a bit until she was comfortable.

“Shut it, Q,” my mate growled, giving up on trying to avoid my cock. “It’s my turn.” In a smooth move, she spun around and straddled my waist, throwing her arms around my neck. “I’m really sorry about that first night,” Tess blurted out, burying her head in my chest. “I pushed you away, and I shouldn’t have. Knowing what I know now–feeling what it means to be mated, to give someone that trust–it hurts me knowing that I rejected you after you put yourself out there.”

“We were both hurting, little mate.” I soothed my hand up and down her back under the blanket. “It is water under the boat now.” Tess looked up at me then, tears ready to fall, and giggled. It was the sweetest, most feminine sound I’d ever heard. “Is that not the Earth saying? Water under the boat?”

“Water under the bridge. It means it’s in the past. Over and done with.”

“Just so. But I like boat better. Feels more deliberate.” I hugged her tight to my body, the fan of my tail unfurling over the top of her thigh, holding her more securely against me. “There really is nothing to apologize about,” I repeated. “We all stumble sometimes, and I was as much to blame. I shouldn’t have pushed you so far on our first night. I had no real understanding of how different our cultures were. At times, we seem so similar. Yet at others, I’ve been forced to admit we are quite distinct.”

“Got that right,” Tess sighed, lowering her cheek back down to my chest. “We fit together, though. In the end, we fit together just right.”

I smiled into her hair, letting my attention drift out over the beautiful landscape. “That we do.”

Rays of light were peaking over the mountains beyond which cradled the lake and forested valley making up Valhalla’s Pass. The mountain town which drew from that same namesake was nestled in slumber below our perch, still cast in deep shadow and the influence of an even darker magic, but those first rays were full of hope as they pierced the horizon.

The sun looked like some ascending god, its golden beams putting on a dazzling display. Together, we watched as the glow transmuted the sky from shades of purple and navy blue to blood red and brilliant gold.

Tess had been right, this sunrise was a truly sacred sight. One that I had no words to describe. Then, as the light was just touching the lowest ridge around Crater Lake, Asteroid and Radon stumbled out the door, scooping up their mugs and delicious goodies before sitting on the patio deck in front of our swing without a word.

In a silence only punctuated by the occasional sip of warm drinks and the crunch of pastries, we watched the sun bathe the entire valley in its rays, and the sky settled into a crystal clear azure. The busy sounds of the world started to bloom around us. And, in my arms, my fourth and final mate slept.

We’d crossed the galaxies to get here, a path carved from heartache and sacrifice, but we’d reached our destination in the end. And now, our jagged pieces fit together just right.

THE END