"Yeah, well, you'll feel good inside me, so get to that part, dragon," Dipak replied, reaching up to touch the necklace with one hand while wrapping a hand around his cock with the other.
Euclid growled and climbed onto the bed, settling between his thighs like a conqueror, making Dipak shiver and groan.Sharp nails ran delicately along his skin, chased by a teasing mouth, until Dipak was sweaty, panting, and begging shamelessly to be filled.
Thankfully, Euclid was more than happy to oblige, sliding into him and fucking Dipak in those deep, slow strokes that soon had them both shuddering and gasping desperately for breath, until they came just breaths apart, tasting each other's air.
After they cleaned up, they settled in his narrow bed with Euclid curled around him from behind, warm and reassuring.Lochan hadn't been much for cuddling, hadn't been much for more than either going back to work or falling asleep.
Dipak really, really preferred Euclid's style, much as he hated to admit that, even if only in his own head.He didn't like thinking poorly of the man he'd loved, especially given Dipak had murdered him, but he couldn't deny he liked being spoiled just a little bit."I like having you close, but I admit your bed is more comfortable.Seems silly, if I'm going to be your mate, to keep maintaining this place."
"You should have your own space.Everyone should, regardless of the other people in their lives and the nature of the relationships.You're a hunter.You should have a place out here in the wild.But if you prefer to spend our nights in my bed, I would not complain about that, though I do like that you must stay so very close to me here."
"Close is definitely nice."So were the soft lips that pressed a kiss to his throat, the gentle rumble that thrummed through him, the hands that flexed possessively against his skin.He was rapidly growing addicted to belonging to a dragon.There was so much he still needed to learn, and grow accustomed to, but he was so very looking forward to it.
He was just drifting off when a brilliant red light filled the room.He registered it was coming from his necklace even as Euclid growled in a way that made his bones hum."What's going on?"he asked, even as he climbed out of bed and fetched his clothes where he'd piled them haphazardly in the chair by the fire while they were cleaning up.
"There is a stranger in my forest," Euclid said with another growl."Not necessarily dangerous, but someone venturing into the woods at this hour?There is a problem of some sort."
Dipak fastened his jacket and drew up the hood of his cowl, a beautiful fur-lined knitted piece he'd gotten from Minali in trade for a book she'd wanted.He pulled his bow from the wall, strung it, and jerked his head."Let's go."
Once they were outside, Euclid took his free hand."Do you remember that dragon nut tree from when you first arrived?"
"Yes, vividly.It would be hard to forget, and it's a good waypoint when I'm on that side of the forest."
"Picture it, as clearly as you can.Got it?"
"Yes."
"Now walk, hunter.Step into that shadow there.It's not needed, but when learning, it's a good focus.Walk into the shadow while holding the tree in your mind.Imagine the shadow opening like a door, or appearing like a path."
Dipak had no idea how any of that would help him do whatever it was Euclid did when he walked his little shortcuts, but he did as instructed, holding the tree as a clear image in his mind, something that had always come easily to him.His mother had thought it strange, said she never saw pictures in her mind, but she'd always believed him.
He stared at the shadow Euclid had pointed out, visible in the dark only because of the light of the moon.Imagined it opening, revealing the tree, and he stepped once.Twice.Dizziness and cold washed over him, save for the hot point of contact where Euclid still held his hand—and then they were at the dragon nut tree.
"How—"
"I'm still helping you access the magic, but you are a natural at it precisely as I knew you would be," Euclid said with a proud smile.He kissed Dipak briefly, and then his somberness returned."Come, let's see who has entered the woods."
From the dragon nut tree it wasn't far to the forest's edge.He suspected Euclid could have taken them right to the intruder, but knowing where he needed to be was part of the shortcut magic, so he'd needed a point that Dipak knew.
He nocked an arrow and followed Euclid through the forest to very nearly where he'd first entered.Since Euclid had led him to the cabin, he hadn't come this far since, had barely gone as far as the dragon nut tree, and then only a couple of times while tracking particularly crafty prey.
As they reached the tree line, a figure came into view, and Dipak raised his bow—and then immediately lowered it as he registered the man standing in the moonlight."Abhishek?"
"Thank goodness," Abhishek replied, sheathing the sword he'd held ready at his side."I was hoping you'd know I was here.There is trouble coming your way.We need to talk."
Chapter Eleven
"Back at my place," Dipak said.Though they'd have to take the long way, using the shortcuts would reveal far too much to someone he only tenuously trusted, and he sensed it would be pretty exhausting for Euclid to cover the burden of it for two people.Though the necklace probably eased some of that?Whatever, they couldn't do it.
Euclid shook his head."Too far this late.It would take hours to reach your cabin, never mind the danger.I know somewhere else we can go for now, until the sun rises.Follow me."
He led them to a dilapidated cabin by the remains of what had once been a water wheel, though what it might have been used for, Dipak hadn't the slightest.There were no fields of grain that would need ground to flour, no massive bellows that needed power, nothing like that at all."What was this used for?"
"Fulling, way back before the forest overtook this area.The people who did the fulling eventually needed more space and wanted to be closer to town, so they moved away.Other people have lived in the house, but the waterwheel hasn't been used in a very long time.Dismantling it was simply too difficult and time-consuming to bother."
"It's a fine house, or could be," Abhishek replied."Strange the monsters stay away from it, when it's been abandoned so long.Surely the house would be a fine nest for several of them."
"The inhabitants won't disturb it until I give them leave to do so," Euclid said."Come, we can sit out here and talk.I'm not sure of the state of the inside, but it's probably not safe."