Peregrine by Piper Scott
Sebastian
Present Day
Anyone who saw Sebastian Drake cut through foot traffic on the Brilliant Boulevard, Aurora’s premiere shopping district, would see him as an alpha on a mission. Nevertheless, something in a shop window caught his eye and he stopped. Even though he’d become a serious impediment to forward progress, no one bumped into him. Humans could sense a predator in their midst, be he man or otherwise, and wherever he went, they gave him a wide berth.
Which was as it should be.
In another time, Sebastian would have feasted on their flesh and picked his teeth with their bones, but the world was a different place now. One did not eat humans on a whim. They were to be consumed only when necessary, and unfortunately those times were few and far between.
Sebastian spent a moment longer assessing the window display, then entered the store and pointed at the item that had caught his eye.
“Can I help you, sir?” one of the associates asked. She was polite, but she eyed Sebastian warily.
“I’d like that scarf,” he rumbled. “The… ah… one the color of harebells.”
The associate blinked at him.
“The bluish one,” he clarified. “I’ll take it. Quickly. I have an appointment.”
“Yes, sir. Would you care to know the price of—”
“No.” Sebastian handed the girl a black credit card. “It’s not necessary.”
“Yes, sir.” She swiped the card and hurried to wrap up his purchase.
Sebastian did not dawdle in the shop any longer than was necessary. Once the scarf was wrapped and bagged, he left and walked another block, where he came to a stop in front of another business. The door was locked, as it always was, so he pushed the buzzer and assured the disembodied voice who answered that he had an appointment. Only then did the door open.
Sebastian entered the shop.
Unlike other storefronts on the Brilliant Boulevard, this particular business was not open to the public, and private appointments were booked months in advance. Sebastian was amongst their few clients who kept regular appointments—he visited once every three months, which was just long enough to ensure that whenever he visited, there would be new wares to sample.
The inside of this particular establishment was peculiar in that it resembled the lobby of a small, if very grand, hotel more than it did a store. A huge crystal chandelier hung from the domed ceiling, shining light down upon the polished marble floor below. Sebastian strolled forward, steps echoing, until a tall woman in towering high heels glided over. “Mr. Drake. Welcome to Luxe. Won’t you please come this way?”
She led Sebastian through a door and into a chair situated by a silk-covered table.
“Would you like refreshment?” she asked. “We have coffee, tea, champagne, port, still water and sparkling water.”
“No,” he said gruffly, then added a, “thank you,” because he could hear Perry admonishing him to be polite in his head.
“Can I get you anything at all, sir?” She sounded a little anxious.
“Just send out Sadie,” he said.
The woman blinked. “But—”
At that point a short, plump young woman came bustling through the door holding a large silver tray covered by a white cloth. “It’s all right, Grace,” she said, putting the tray down on the table. “I’ll see to Mr. Drake.”
Grace frowned, but at last nodded and glided back to whence she’d come.
“Sadie,” Sebastian said cordially when the two were alone. “What do you have for me today?”
Sadie grinned back at him. “I can’t wait to show you!” She lifted the cloth away like she was presenting a magic trick, and that wasn’t far off the mark. Sadie was a magician, only her potions consisted mostly of sugar, butter, cocoa beans, milk, spices, fruit, and nuts.
On the tray were twenty-four sets of assorted truffles. Each had one whole truffle, and one sliced in half to show its interior. Sadie pointed to the first one. “This is the Valencia. The interior is a burnt butter caramel ganache flavored with house-made orange liqueur and pink peppercorn. It’s covered in dark chocolate and decorated with candied orange peel. I’d ask if you wanted to try it, but I already know the answer.”
Sebastian nodded gravely.
“Okay, then,” Sadie went on, enthusiasm undimmed, “how about this one?” She pointed to the next truffle, which was white and crowned with a sugared rose petal. “It’s pistachio marzipan, rose water, dark chocolate ganache, and white cocoa butter chocolate, with, of course, an edible rose petal.”
Sebastian nodded again and she went on to describe the next truffle, then the next, then the next. He nodded at them all, but ended up choosing only sixteen.
Happy with his selection, Sadie said, “I’m sure your husband will love them.” Her eyes twinkled. “Now. Can I interest you in macarons?”
Sebastian nodded again and Sadie clapped her hands in delight. “Fantastic! Let me go get you a sampling.” She scurried away, taking her tray with her.
By the time Sebastian’s appointment was over, he had several boxes filled with chocolates, macarons, petit fours, and miniature fruit tarts.
“So,” she said as Sebastian readied himself to leave. “Is this for a special occasion?”
Sebastian shook his head.
“Your husband is a very lucky man,” Sadie said brightly, but Sebastian shook his head again.
“I am the lucky one,” he said as he hefted the bag of sweets from the counter in the main foyer. “Good day, Sadie.”
She smiled and curled her fingers in a wave. “Until next time, Mr. Drake.”
* * *
“Daddy’s home!”
It was shouted in a chorus of voices, but one that seemed much smaller than usual. Indeed, when Sebastian counted heads, four of his children were missing and an extra one had been added—Everard’s whelp, Darwin. Alarmingly, there was a pair of metallic wings strapped to his back and a little scuff of dirt on his cheek. Julius, his closest friend, stood next to him, grass stains on his knees.
Fearing the missing whelps had been launched into space, Sebastian zeroed in on the most reliable of the clutch. “Cornelius,” he barked. “Report.”
“Yes, sir,” Cornelius piped up enthusiastically. “Hadrian, Octavius, and Elian went over to the Opal Consulate and Maximus went to go play with Chaucer and Olive. Uncle Everard and Uncle Harry came to see Papa and—”
“Brought me!” Darwin finished excitedly. “I’ve been studying aerodynamics. Aren’t my wings neat? They don’t work so well just yet, but they will if I keep trying, so Jules and I have been experimenting on them to make them better. We built a ramp. It’s fun! I’ll have to build one at home so Steve can have fun, too. May we have cookies?”
Sebastian frowned at his youngest child. “What did Papa say?”
Julius looked between Darwin and his father and seemed torn.
“Not until after dinner!” Cornelius pronounced, eliciting groans from the other boys.
“Correct. Now, go play,” Sebastian ordered, and off the boys scampered.
How strange it was to think that it had been eight years since they’d hatched. It felt like not much time had passed at all, but here they were, well on their way to becoming respectable young dragons.
Sebastian’s heart clenched, but it was a pain he quickly swept aside. There was no point in suffering the inevitable. The whelps would grow up whether he wished it or not. It would be better to cherish the time they had left rather than mourn what was already behind them.
“Oh, hello, Sebastian!” came a familiar voice from across the foyer as Sebastian plotted ways to join the boys in their games. It belonged to Harrison, his brother Everard’s mate and Darwin’s father. It appeared, owing to the direction he was coming from, that he’d recently left the atrium. It was where Perry had to be. “Perry said you weren’t home.”
“I was not.”
“Oh.” Harrison crossed the foyer and came to stand just short of Sebastian. To Sebastian’s displeasure, he did not possess the same sense of self-preservation as the average human. Or, unfortunately, the average anything. “I suppose it is getting late, isn’t it? Everard sent me to find Darwin so we could head home, too. Have you seen him?”
Sebastian pointed in the direction the boys had gone.
“Over there?” Harrison turned to look. “Thanks. I’ll go take a peek and see if I can find him.”
“Wait.”
Harrison turned to face him. “Yes?”
“Is Everard with Perry?”
Harrison frowned as though puzzling it out. “Well, he was when I left the atrium, but there’s a chance he left since then. So as far as I know, yes, but it’s not a sure thing. Do you want to talk to him? I can try to find him, too, while I’m off looking for Darwin.”
Sebastian shook his head. “No, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Harrison beamed at him. “I’d better go find Darwin. If I don’t see you again before we leave, it was nice seeing you!”
Sebastian nodded in agreement, so off Harrison went, leaving Sebastian alone with quite the mystery.
What was his brother doing with his mate?
It wasn’t unusual for Harrison to visit, but Everard, while nosy, did not tend to be as social. He was not the kind to drop in out of the blue, and certainly not on a whim. There was a reason for him to be here, Sebastian was sure, but what it was would have to wait for later. After Everard was gone. No good would come of investigating while he was still in the house, as Everard was wily and would find a way to keep his secrets hidden. It would be better to find out the truth from Perry directly, so off Sebastian went to bide his time. In a few hours, he would go in search of his mate.
* * *
Sebastian found Perry in the atrium. The hour was approaching twilight and shadows filled the room. His mate lay on his side by the pond, his fingers trailing in the water. He was forcibly reminded of a twilight centuries ago when he’d found Peregrine lying melancholy beside the pool in the oasis on the grounds of their palace, southeast of Beirut. Back then he’d been wreathed by a veil of sadness, and while he was much better at hiding his emotions now, Sebastian sensed all was not well.
Deceit,his dragon hissed. Sorrow. Despair.
“Perry?” Sebastian asked softly as he approached.
Perry startled, then looked up at his mate and smiled his familiar sweet smile. For a bare few seconds, however, before the smile had come, Perry’s face had seemed utterly tragic.
Sebastian came to him and dropped to his knees at Perry’s side. “Are you well? Is something wrong?”
Perry’s smile wobbled slightly, then strengthened. “I’m fine, darling.”
“But—”
Perry put a finger to Sebastian’s lips. “No buts. I am fine. We shall leave it at that.”
“I brought you a present,” Sebastian told him, wanting to bring the smile back into his mate’s eyes. “Presents,” he amended, remembering the scarf that had caught his eye in the shop window earlier that day. But to his dismay, Perry didn’t perk up. Rather, he dipped his fingers back into the water and spun them in slow circles, tempting the koi below.
Whatever was wrong had to be very wrong.
In no way did Sebastian believe he was fine.
“That’s very sweet of you, but later, darling,” Perry said at length. “I can wait for presents. Right now all I need is you.”
Sebastian needed no further instruction. Without another word, he scooped Perry into his arms and carried him into their hoard. It was the one place in the house where no one would disturb them.
He laid Perry on their hoard bed and climbed on after him, stripping them piece by piece until they were bare. Perry, pliant and needy, folded back his legs, and Sebastian took care of the rest, prepping him and pushing him into the perfect position for pleasure.
He started their lovemaking slow and sweet, showing Perry how precious he was, but his mate was having none of it. Perry’s fingernails dug into his back, and he fought the pace Sebastian had set, working himself harder than Sebastian was willing to go. It was unusual in the extreme, and Sebastian sought to remedy it by kissing and licking his way down Perry’s body, paying particular attention to his most sensitive spots.
Perry tossed his head restlessly on their pillows and couldn’t seem to keep his hips still. “More, please. Sebastian, I need more.”
Sebastian knew what to do about that. He lifted Perry’s hips to his mouth and took Perry’s hard and leaking cock into his mouth, then down his throat. It was something he’d done thousands of times before, and something he knew how to do well. Perry always came undone for him so easily like this, but today, no matter how Sebastian licked or sucked or swallowed, Perry would not relax for him.
His mouth would not be good enough.
Something had to be truly wrong.
“Please, Sebastian,” Perry begged, tugging at Sebastian’s hair. “It’s not enough. I need you back inside me.”
Sebastian pulled off Perry’s cock and went to fold back his legs, but Perry shook his head, and he stopped at once. Once he had, Perry scrambled out from beneath him and pushed hard at Sebastian’s shoulders. He was not strong enough to move Sebastian no matter how hard he tried, but Sebastian humored him by falling onto his side and then rolling onto his back as Perry continued to push.
“There,” Perry breathed, and stilled Sebastian once he was on his back. He straddled Sebastian’s hips, grasped his cock, and sank down onto it until Sebastian had nothing left to give. The pleasure was unimaginable. Just as Sebastian had learned how best to please his mate with his mouth over the last five hundred years, Perry had long ago learned how best to use his body to bring Sebastian pleasure. He tightened and loosened and rode hard, bangles jingling as he went.
“Perry,” Sebastian groaned, and grabbed his hips not to hold him in place, but to better support him as he rode. “Oh, Perry.”
His mate was too lost in pleasure to reply, his head thrown back and his back arched. A crown of dainty golden chains glittered in his hair, and a single diamond drop earring swayed with every rise and fall of his hips, its inner fire dull compared to the man who wore it.
Perry lurched forward all at once and braced his hands on either side of Sebastian’s arms. At this new angle he rode savagely, and Sebastian, as strong as he was, was helpless against the pleasure that followed. He teetered on the edge of orgasm, roused not only by the tightness of his mate’s body, but by the sight of him. How even nude, Perry was perfect. How gorgeous he looked drenched in gold.
“Breed me,” Perry begged through ragged gasps. “Make me yours.”
And so Sebastian did.
He shot deep into Perry, marking him with his seed, then let go and allowed his knot to lock the two of them together. Perry cried out and bore back onto him, taking his knot deeper, and as he did, he came as well, striping Sebastian’s chest with his spend.
“Yes,” he panted as he rode, coaxing Sebastian’s knot to keep thickening. “Yes, yes.”
It was utter ecstasy.
Sebastian tightened his grip on Perry’s hips and pushed him down, causing Perry to wiggle and moan as the knot stretched him and locked him into place.
When it could grow no more, Sebastian let him go, and Perry slumped onto him bonelessly. Sebastian gathered him in his arms and held him while their bodies rode out the last of their orgasms, and even after that, as his knot would keep them together for quite some time.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” Sebastian said once Perry had settled, trying not to make it a demand. He rubbed his mate’s smooth skin to comfort both himself and Perry. “Tell me what it is and I shall destroy it.”
Perry chuckled and laid his cheek on Sebastian’s chest. “I’m afraid this isn’t something you can bludgeon or threaten into submission, my love.”
“But—”
“No. Hush.” He placed a silencing finger on Sebastian’s lips. “I haven’t been feeling well lately, and it occurred to me that it’s been two weeks since you rescued me from that rascal, Hugh, and whisked me off to bed to celebrate a job well done. Do you remember it? It was the day of the children’s birthday party.”
Realization struck, and it felt like a shard of ice had been stabbed through Sebastian’s heart. “The day you thought you might go into heat.”
Perry hummed sadly. “That’s the one. I’d thought maybe my old injuries were flaring up and interrupting my cycle, as they do from time to time, but… the dates lined up too well, so yesterday I went to visit Everard at his office.” Tears began to pool on Sebastian’s chest, and without Perry having said anything, he knew.
It was happening again.
“Perry…”
“He confirmed it,” Perry admitted in a small and broken voice. “The testing he did was conclusive. I’m…”
“Shh.” Sebastian tightened his arms as if to shield him from the world. “It is enough. I know.”
Perry began to sob, so Sebastian did what he always did and held him until there were no more tears left to cry. Then he stroked Perry’s hair, shoulders, and back, until the omega went limp and his breathing slowed and became even.
“It will be different this time,” Sebastian whispered in a hollow voice to his sleeping mate. “I don’t know how, but it will be.”
Perry didn’t stir, and Sebastian was grateful for it, because no matter what he said, words were of little comfort after five hundred years of pain.