Autumn Feast - Charlie Richards Page 0,4

process. “Shouldn’t you really be apologizing to Riley, then? He’s the one you kidnapped.” He licked his lips as he settled on the sofa, then added, “Or maybe Dagskon, seeing as Riley is his mate?”

“I’ll get to them... eventually.” Agnoroth sat beside him, close enough that their thighs touched, sending a thrill through Kristof. “You are more important.”

“Important?” Kristof couldn’t help parroting the word. “Why?”

Agnoroth lifted his left hand and crooked his fingers. Skimming the backs of his forefingers along Kristof’s jawline, he curved his lips into a hungry smile. “Because you, Kristof, are my mate.”

“I-I’m—” Kristof leaped to his feet and faced the dragon. “Did you just say I’m your mate?”

Nodding, Agnoroth lifted his hand and beckoned. “Please sit back down. Please.”

Kristof felt his knees buckle, his body forcing him to do as Agnoroth urged, and he sank back onto the sofa. He struggled to wrap his mind around what the male was telling him. His gut clenched as he thought about the dreams he’d had of the man and the many jerk-off sessions where the dragon’s features swam through his mind.

Not to mention the guilt... and now it all makes sense.

Except.

“That was at Christmas last year. That was over eight months ago.”

When each of his friends had met their dragon mate, the shifter had pursued them with single-minded dedication until they’d bonded. It had happened fast, too... normally within a few days.

“It’s September. I met you at the beginning of winter, and now it’s autumn! Where the hell have you been for almost nine months?”

Chapter Three

Upon hearing Kristof’s question, Agnoroth fought back a flinch. There was confusion in his mate’s tone... and something else, too.

Hurt.

Agnoroth had ached to return to Kristof, the need a physical thing. On a daily basis, he’d had to fight his dragon. Only reminding himself that he would be put to death if he didn’t complete his penance had kept him in control.

It hadn’t occurred to Agnoroth that his human would be feeling the same pull, even if it was to a lesser extent.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t come sooner, Kristof,” Agnoroth murmured, reaching out to him. When his mate cringed away from him, a stab of pain cut through him. “We only met for a moment in the woods.”

That brief encounter where Agnoroth had wrapped his arms around Kristof, holding him still while Perentian had issued his ultimatum, had fueled so many fantasies.

“I wish things had been different when we met, but I can’t change the past,” Agnoroth told Kristof, lowering his hands to his lap. “Perentian had stolen something from me. Something I valued greatly, and he agreed to give it back to me if I helped him get his own gem back.” Scoffing, Agnoroth shook his head as he eyed Kristof solemnly. “Even thinking back on it, I’m not sorry I did it.”

Kristof scowled. “You’re not sorry you helped an asshole kidnap my friend?”

Put like that...

Agnoroth shrugged. “No.” Needing to touch, to have some contact, he tried again. As he slid his fingertips up Kristof’s thigh, he murmured, “No, Kristof, because it brought me to you.”

To Agnoroth’s pleasure, Kristof didn’t pull away. Instead, he glanced from Agnoroth’s hand to his face and back again before lightly resting his own hand over Agnoroth’s. On reflex, he tightened his grip before relaxing again.

Kristof’s focus still appeared to be on their hands, but Agnoroth noticed how he kept giving his face side-long glances. His focus never seemed to make it to his eyes, however. As a few quiet minutes slipped by, Agnoroth couldn’t resist gently kneading the hard muscle of his mate’s thigh.

Finally, Kristof murmured, “You still didn’t tell me where you were.”

Agnoroth could scent Kristof’s pain, frustration, and even a little anger and need. His mate had needed, but he hadn’t understood why. The possibility hadn’t occurred to Agnoroth, but even if it had, he didn’t think he could have done anything about it.

So, to make him understand now...

“My half-brother is Kazeem. Did anyone tell you that?” Agnoroth began.

After Kristof had nodded, he explained everything. He shared how he’d been in a cell for a couple of weeks pending the king’s decision. His penance had been six months manual labor as a gardener, and he told how he’d found he enjoyed the work. Then he’d come looking for his mate, but it had taken him a little while to find him.

“You’ve been following me for several weeks?” Kristof whispered incredulously. His eyes grew wide. “How did I not know that? And why wait