Chapter 360: So About That Inheritance

The dragon lord had stirred much earlier than his mate, and since then, he had simply remained beside him, lying quietly while watching Riley with patient, thoughtful attention.

He didn’t move, staying there like a loyal sentry.

He didn’t even flinch when the steady rhythm of Riley’s breathing shifted by the slightest fraction, nor when the long dark lashes resting against the black dragon’s cheek trembled almost imperceptibly.

Kael noticed all of it.

Yet the golden dragon said nothing. He remained a quiet, stable presence amidst the soft light spilling through the windows, perfectly willing to indulge the little performance unfolding beside him.

Or better yet, perfectly willing to watch his twig pretend to sleep.

Golden eyes moved slowly over his mate’s face, studying every small detail with careful focus. Riley’s breathing appeared steady and relaxed, his cheek resting against the pillow while his long black hair spilled across the sheets in a dark, tangled mess.

It was a very peaceful sight.

But the fully mated dragon lord knew better.

For one thing, their bond was currently overflowing with mana.

Far more than usual.

Far more than what would normally be considered reasonable, even for fortunate fated mates like them.

And as one could expect, this led the golden dragon to a rather interesting question that had him staring instead of sleeping.

Just how long would they realistically be able to hide Riley like this?

He didn’t particularly like that train of thought.

And yet instead of the frown he sported by default, his gaze softened as he reached over, gently brushing a stray lock of black hair away from Riley’s face. The strands slipped easily through his fingers before settling back against the pillow.

Then Kael leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on his mate’s forehead.

The black dragon remained perfectly still, save for the melodious breathing his twig seemed to have perfected.

The dragon lord’s lips curved slightly.

Because if the little cheat intended to keep pretending, then Kael had absolutely no problem indulging him.

In fact, the situation was rather tempting.

The manor was quiet. No one was around to interrupt them. And the sheer amount of mana currently saturating the space around them made the atmosphere feel warm and heavy in a way that was difficult to ignore.

Kael lowered his voice slightly, his lips lingering near Riley’s temple as he spoke.

“If you have no intentions of leaving,” he murmured softly, his tone carrying the faintest hint of amusement, “we can just stay here all day…”

His fingers slid slowly along Riley’s arm, tracing a lazy path against warm skin.

Then he added, almost thoughtfully, “Every day.”

The words were quiet, but the teasing undertone beneath them was unmistakable.

And just as expected, one Riley Hale Dravaryn popped open those eyes so quickly one would think he actually wanted to leave.

__

News flash: he didn’t.

Said black dragon with the name of Riley actually had zero desire to leave the comfort of such a place.

Granted, it looked like a war zone, but still.

If someone were to really examine his heart, they would definitely know that Riley would have been willing to stay there for god knows how long.

But that was just it.

Someone could really examine his heart. And it seemed like said someone had already figured something out as he looked at Riley with those golden orbs that he really liked.

“!!!”

The ex-mortal jolted.

His eyes snapped open so quickly he nearly collided with the man beside him. The movement was instinctive, born from the sudden acceptance of something he should have realized a while back: someone had been watching him for who knew how long.

And yes, that someone was, unfortunately, his husband.

Kael was lying comfortably on the bed beside him, propped lazily against the pillows as though he had been enjoying the show for quite some time already. His golden hair was slightly disheveled, his expression calm and faintly amused, and the look in those molten gold eyes made it very clear that the dragon lord had been observing him with far more attention than Riley would have liked—at least at that very moment.

Any other time, and the frazzled immortal would’ve loved how his mate looked at him like he was some world wonder.

But the problem (not) was that Kael was also very naked.

Very hot.

And extremely handsome.

Riley immediately cursed the universe.

Because why couldn’t he have nice things in life?

Especially when he was quite literally right there.

In fact, technically speaking, this guy was already all his.

His husband.

His mate.

But nooooo.

Instead of simply enjoying the moment like a normal newlywed, Riley now had to deal with the consequences of his own rather problematic existence.

Which meant an awkward conversation with his mate during their honeymoon.

Honestly, who even does that?

Who would possibly ruin such a perfect moment with a serious conversation?

Well.

The cursed one would.

And unfortunately for Riley, that happened to be him.

Now, the partially oblivious Kael watched the rapid sequence of expressions that crossed his twig’s face with obvious interest.

His lips curved faintly as he reached out to press his thumb softly against Riley’s jaw, the gesture slow and unhurried in a way that only made the dragon lord look even more shameless.

Then, with that same quiet amusement lingering in his voice, he spoke.

“So, Honey,” Kael said gently, his tone warm with just a hint of indulgent curiosity, “care to let me in on your secret?”

Riley froze.

Not metaphorically.

Actually froze.

Because, of course, they were really going to do this today.

__

Riley had absolutely no idea how to even start the explanation.

To be fair, he didn’t exactly get one. Like nobody really walked him through the reasoning. They simply dropped him into the moment so he could see for himself.

Yeah, that was how his inheritance was passed down to him. But at the same time, he couldn’t even fault his ancestors, as he couldn’t really think of another way that they could have done what they just did, considering the limitations they were facing.

In a sense, Riley thought the situation was understandable.

So instead of carefully organizing his thoughts like a reasonable being, Riley simply went for it.

“Well,” he said bluntly, staring straight at his husband, “we’re kind of fucked.”

“…”

“…”

There was a momentary silence.

And a very prominent raised brow from one very golden dragon.

Riley inhaled slowly through his nose.

“Or at least, I am,” he corrected quickly. “And unfortunately, it’s not the kind that we both enjoy.”

Kael did not interrupt him.

The dragon lord simply watched him, his golden eyes calm, curious, and very much focused on the wilting Riley.

Which, honestly, made the situation worse.

“I know this is definitely not the time to talk about this,” Riley continued, running a hand through his already messy hair as the words began tumbling out faster than he could reasonably arrange them. “Because personally, I don’t think there would ever be a good time to talk about this shit, but here we are.”

He paused only long enough to take a breath before continuing his very unfortunate word vomit.

“So, you know how I said I finally got the inheritance thing sorted out?” Riley said quickly. “Yeah, well, turns out that comes with a lot more information. Like way more than I hoped to ever know. Some of it’s useful, some of it’s historical, some of it’s… extremely questionable.”

Kael tilted his head slightly.

He still hadn’t said a word.

Which somehow encouraged Riley to keep going.

“So now I know why I ended up getting sealed,” Riley said, grimacing a little as he lifted his hand.

The heirloom of the Dravaryn clan glinted quietly where it rested on his finger.

“And I also know why this kind of likes me a bit too much.”

He flashed the ring.

Kael’s gaze followed the motion calmly before returning to his mate’s face. The dragon lord tilted his head slightly again, the gesture wordless but very clearly inviting him to continue.

Go on.

Riley inhaled deeply.

Then he made a face.

The kind of face someone made when they had just tasted something extremely bitter but had already accepted that the flavor was not going away anytime soon.

“Well,” he said slowly, lifting the hand with the ring again and pointing at it with his other finger, “because my blood just so happens to be the blood of the same guy whose body was used for this.”

“…”

“…”

Sounds like bullshit, right?

Yeah, no.

Unfortunately not.

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