in that moment. They were happy and never wanted Sora to stop what he was doing.
“How are you doing? Aside from being hurt and stuck right in the middle of everything?”
Ravi cracked open an eye to find Sora smiling at him teasingly, but his dark eyes also looked worried.
“Bored. I’m really, really bored. The German police detectives have been in and out of the castle since yesterday, asking questions of everyone but me.”
“Well, you’re scary and intimidating.”
Ravi delivered his best skeptical look, which wasn’t easy because his dragon face wasn’t nearly as expressive as his human face. But he must had gotten his point across because Sora threw his head back and laughed.
“I don’t count. I—” He seemed to catch himself and rolled his eyes with a sigh.
It was clear that he’d barely stopped himself from saying something very revealing. Sora looked frustrated, as if he weren’t happy about the restrictions placed on him. Ravi was buzzing with hundreds of questions about who he was and where he came from, but he didn’t want to upset the mage even more.
“The point is that I’m not intimidated by you because I know you’d never do anything to hurt me,” Sora continued, and Ravi rumbled with pleasure again.
He scooted his head closer to where Sora was sitting on the pillows beside him, practically nuzzling the man’s thigh. Okay, he’d let that slip go if it meant Sora would continue to pet his head.
“Has anyone else stopped by, besides the police?”
“Lots of people have checked on me, but no one can stay long. There’s too much to do. Cassie brought me a tablet to watch movies on, but those stupid touch screens aren’t designed for dragon fingers.” Ravi lifted one hand and wiggled his long claw-tipped fingers at Sora, earning another chuckle from the mage.
“We can fix that easily enough.” Sora reached across the pillows to where a tablet had been pushed aside. With Ravi’s help, he logged into the device and queued up a comedic movie that would at least help to distract Ravi’s mind for a little while. “What about food? Have you had breakfast yet?”
“Not yet.”
“What are you in the mood for?”
Ravi huffed a heavy sigh. “Tacos.”
“Really? For breakfast? Do you mean, like, breakfast tacos?” Sora asked with a soft chuff of surprise.
“No, I mean regular beef-filled tacos with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, and just a little bit of salsa. I’ve had the worst craving for tacos for the past two days.” He moaned a little pathetically because he was feeling very pathetic. “But I can’t have tacos until I’m in my human form because tacos are too hard with these hands and this face.”
He hit his own snout with his hand, and Sora immediately grabbed his hand to stop him from doing it a second time.
“Hey, now. Enough of that. I happen to like this face.”
Sora released his hand and returned to rubbing the top of his head.
Ravi huffed and laid his head back down, though his chin might now be on Sora’s leg a little. Okay, so maybe he was playing up the pathetic just a little bit, but he was soaking up all this amazing attention while he could get it. He was like a cat getting head scratches, and he never wanted it to end.
“Thank you, but I’d be fine with some bread. It’s easy to eat and not very messy. I can eat whatever I want when I’m human again,” Ravi murmured. He glanced up to find Sora frowning at him.
“How about you watch your movie while I see what I can fix up for you?”
“Really? You don’t have to go to that kind of trouble.”
“No trouble at all. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Sora slipped away, and Ravi tried not to sigh. The moment he was gone he realized that he could have gone without food for a long time if it meant that Sora stayed right there with him. He liked that man. He was nice, funny, and very compassionate. A damn good healer. And Ravi was getting rather attached to him, if he was being honest with himself. He liked Sora A LOT. Sora needed to remain at Burkhard Castle permanently.
Ravi waited for Sora to return, only partially paying attention to the movie that was playing. He’d already watched it a few dozen times. It was one of his favorites, but his mind kept drifting back to the mage, wondering what he’d been about to say. Sora had never