He lifted Baldewin’s hand to his mouth, placing a kiss to the palm before rolling free again. “Let’s get this over with.”
The small, grey house near the river looked the same. Tori’s father had built it right before he married, including an extra half story with bedrooms for children, and the couple had always been disappointed that they had only one child. Tori’s further disappointment to them was never in question. He’d never been allowed to play in or even enter the other bedroom upstairs. The one left empty, as if still waiting for a child that would never come.
He’d texted them before coming, as he didn’t want to enter the house if he could help it. There was nothing in it left for him to claim, and walking into the house would feel stifling in the worst way. There was a porch facing the river, and it was there that he found both parents waiting for him.
Yoshua and Jona Taavi stared at their only child with stiff faces, their expressions masked to hide what they truly felt. It was how they normally looked at Tori. He didn’t see anything strange about it as he walked up the two steps onto the porch.
“I came to tell you myself,” he said without preamble. “I’ve permanently left the Taavi Clan.”
“We heard.” Yoshua didn’t stand from his rocking chair, looking him and Baldewin over. His face fell into disapproving lines, which was easy to do for him. The deep furrow between his brows and the lines around his mouth leant to that expression naturally. “Heard you took on a dragon’s name, too.”
“I’m a Burkhard, yes.” Tori turned and forced himself to do brief introductions. “Baldewin, this is Yoshua and Jona, my parents. This is Baldewin Burkhard, head of security for the Burkhard Clan. Also, my fiancé.”
Jona’s brows shot up into her thinning blonde hair. She sat up straighter, eyes darting between the two of them. “Dragons don’t take men as mates!”
“On the contrary, we do,” Baldewin corrected her. The smile on his face was an open challenge. “We don’t care about gender. That seems to be an issue only with the Taavi.”
She went back to frowning at her child. “Is this why you left? Without a word to us? Because you wanted a man more than you wanted your family?”
“Since when has my family ever wanted me?” Tori shot back, out of patience with this conversation already. “Yes, I wanted a husband. A man who loved me. I wasn’t going to find it here. And let’s be clear, I’m only here as a final goodbye. I’m not returning to the Taavi, and I have no intention of ever visiting. You were proven wrong in almost every single thing you’ve taught me. Can’t you at least unbend enough to wish me well? To apologize for poisoning my mind?”
Stony silence from both of them. His mother looked away entirely, facing the river.
Tori shook his head, already resigned. What had he expected from them, really? “Fine. I’ve told you. That’s all I wanted to do. Goodbye.”
He turned on his heel and left, heading back around the house and toward the SUV. Baldewin was quick to join him, asking in a low tone as they moved, “Are you sure about leaving?”
“When they stop talking, they don’t break their silence around me for days,” Tori explained wearily. “We went a week once without speaking a word to each other, or even in front of each other. Trust me, there’s no point in saying anything further.”
Baldewin caught him and hauled him into a tight embrace. Tori went without hesitation, burying his head into the man’s shoulder and hanging on. How had Baldewin known that he’d needed a hug just then? A reminder that warmth, joy, and happiness awaited him? That the coldness of this house wouldn’t follow him to Germany?
“I love you,” Baldewin whispered to him.
Ah, really. What was he to do with this man who made him so happy? Tori smiled as he repeated the words. “I love you. Take me home, rakas.”
“Gladly.” He untangled enough to draw Tori toward the SUV, and they both slid in, Baldewin taking the driver’s seat.
Tori felt little but relief as the SUV turned in the narrow driveway and headed away from that small, grey house that held no pleasant memories for him. The farther away they drove, the lighter his heart became. He’d never need to return there. That alone was cause for celebration. He glanced at Baldewin, smile growing. Going home with a sexy man soon to be his husband was another reason to celebrate.
“The next time you tell me something is a bad idea, I think I’ll listen.” Baldewin shook his head expansively. “This whole trip up here was a disaster.”
“I did warn you.”
“You did. I’ll take it more to heart next time. Do you still want me to put you to sleep for the flight home?”