Page 10 of Consort of the Dragon King

“You may.”

Having received permission, Auslin reached out with tentative fingers and followed the pattern on Kitsuki's right arm from his shoulder downward. His dark pewter markings were so different from the bright, shining silver they had been in his youth. Auslin’s eyes strayed toward Kitsuki’s broader shoulders and chest, which were more developed than they had been in the past. He hadn’t thought it was possible for Kitaro to become more attractive, but Kitsuki proved him wrong.

When Kitsuki arched an eyebrow at him in silent questioning, Auslin flushed in embarrassment at realizing the shifter must have scented his arousal. Kitsuki at least spared his feelings by not commenting on it.

Auslin took the shifter’s hand in his, marveling at how it was even bigger than it had been in the past. Kitsuki’s larger frame made Auslin feel that much smaller next to him, but it also made him feel even safer. He knew Kitsuki would never let anything bad happen to him ever again.

“It’s really not fair that you got more attractive,” Auslin muttered, earning an amused noise from the shifter king. “You were already unfairly handsome in the past. But now?” Auslin scoffed.

Kitsuki studied him carefully. “You genuinely believe that,” he said in a tone of voice that implied he almost didn’t believe him.

“Of course I do. Look at you!”

“Interesting.” There was a brightness in Kitsuki’s eyes as his curiosity came to the forefront. “You actually found me attractive before you met me in the past?”

“Uh, yeah,” Auslin said with a laugh. “I thought I was subtle about it, but I got yelled at for it a lot.”

Kitsuki frowned. “Because Kio felt threatened by your interest in me?”

“Exactly.” Auslin repeated his actions on Kitsuki’s other arm, once again starting at his shoulder and working down his bicep. “He thought I was only nice to you because I wanted to be with you.”

“Did you want to be with me?”

Auslin paused in his exploration to figure out how to express himself. “I wanted to be close to you. But every time I tried, I felt like I was hurting you, so I pulled back. I was never arrogant enough to believe a shifter king would have any kind of romantic interest in a puny human like me.”

“Let alone the Ice King.”

Auslin nodded. “You were too incredible to want to be with someone like me who debased himself with someone as awful as Kio.”

“There is some irony in me wishing you would leave Kio because your situation reminded me of Vanra’s miserable relationship with his companion.” Kitsuki shook his head. “I wanted to hate you for being with my half brother, but I could not hate someone who so resembled my beloved Vanra.”

“Can I ask a weird question?”

“You may ask me anything you wish.”

Auslin hesitated. “Why do you always call Kio your half brother? All your siblings are half because they have different mothers, but you never refer to Kisano or Kizoshi as your half siblings. You didn’t even call Mitsuki your half brother, and he was utterly repugnant.”

“Largely because of Kio himself. He thought his humanness separated him from the rest of us, so he always insisted on the half label. When I had nothing but contempt for him, I had no problem using the distinction to distance myself from him further.”

“That makes sense.” Auslin bit his lower lip as he debated pushing his luck. “What did you think of me as Auslin?”

“I was drawn to you because of your resemblance to my Vanra, but I refused to disrespect you by making you his replacement. At the same time, I wanted to rescue you from Kio’s abuse. Being near you soothed my centuries of hurt, but it also pained me at the same time. You stirred complicated feelings within me I did not always appreciate, leading me to be harsher to you than I should have been. For that, I apologize. Especially for our first encounter.”

“You mean when you almost killed me?” Auslin asked with a grin.

Kitsuki’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why is that such a source of amusement for you?”

“Because it’s such a contrast to the friendship we built afterward.”

“You looked at me without fear that night,” Kitsuki said, studying Auslin carefully. “You should have begged for your life. But instead, you looked me deep in the eyes and asked if I was okay.”

“Because you looked like you were in so much pain.” Auslin brushed his thumb over the shifter markings on Kitsuki’s shoulder.

Kitsuki looked down. “Because I was. To see someone who so resembled my Vanra with my disgusting excuse for a half brother was more pain than my heart could bear. And to be treated with kindness when I threatened you with death was so like my Vanra it broke me.”

“And yet you protected me those two times when I was attacked while Kio was away.”

“Because while you were not my Vanra, I could not bear to live in a world without you,” Kitsuki softly confessed, placing his hand over Auslin’s with a squeeze. “No matter how much it hurt, you were the first thing to give me hope I would someday see my Vanra again.”

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