A/N: Some nice anon asked for an oneshot showing how Berwald and Tino met, I actually never thought about that, but if you really want to read that I can think of something. Just let me know if more of you would be interested. ;)

And I'm not sure if I can keep up the weekly updates of this story like I planned to, I already had to move this chapter to one day later since Tuesday is just too busy for me to update then. I'll try to keep it weekly, but I have a kind of busy schedule now and I don't find as much time to write as I want.

The good part about having a dragon in intimidating human form walking behind you was that everyone left you alone. Of course no servant would dare to talk to a noble of one of the head families without permission, but other nobles and imperial officials would sometimes try and start a conversation in hopes of getting on my good site, and later profiting from my influence. And court protocol demanded that I treated everyone with a certain amount of respect, meaning I couldn't just ignore them.

It had been especially bad, back when I returned to the imperial palace after I had buried my parents in the family crypt and reclaimed Mathias from his stony prison. I had not yet dared to expose Mathias so I used to walk through the corridors and halls alone. And I was regarded as easy prey, a young lord who had unexpectedly inherited his parent's titles before he was ready, so I was presumably susceptible and would hopefully do what was told to him.

I tried to gain as much information as possible from those bootlickers, but the yield was barely worth the trouble. And after I had secured my position as a Dragon Lord, Mathias followed me everywhere I went, and his overwhelming presence frightened away most of them. And since no one dared to approach me anymore, I didn't have to act as if I would care about any one of them, I could simply ignore them.

I walked back to my chambers, the few servants I encountered bowed to me before shying away as fast and quiet as possible, the two officials I crossed path with, only greeted me with a curt nod and went on their way.

I pulled out the key when I reached the door to my chambers, I would never leave my rooms unlocked; not even the servants had a key. I had to clean up myself, but that was a small price for undisturbed privacy. I couldn't have anyone snooping around in my belongings after all.

I stepped through the door, closely followed by Mathias, who shut the door behind him. He had kept his mask on for the whole meeting and the time after, but I could feel his mood shifting underneath it.

I took a step forward, attempting to go to my desk and trying once more to sort out the bits and pieces of information I had gathered so far, but I was stopped by Mathias' arms around me. He didn't say anything he just held me there in place. And then after seemingly an eternity he finally spoke, his voice only a dark whisper against my cheekbone. "You're tainted. I can smell their stench on you and it makes me sick."

I involuntarily tensed. I knew what Mathias meant, he was born a free dragon, for him the dragons that were born in confinement were lesser beings and he looked down on them. But they were not the source for his disgust, as inferior as they were, they didn't choose their fate and so he begrudgingly accepted their presence. But he hated humans with a passion, and even though he had learned to acknowledge the existence of most of the Dragon Lords and even respected some of them, he didn't like it at all if I came in contact with anyone else. It was particularly bad in the capital where the root of the evil that was Dragon taming laid, as he hated the city and everything that lived in it.

Dragons had of course more sensitive senses than humans; even in human form they would be superior, so for him everyone who wasn't me carried a bad stench with them. Away from the capital it was usually easy for him to bite back his disgust, but returning to the capital always presented a newly fueled assault on his olfactory sense. He would prefer it if he could stay in my chambers for the first few days after return, for they only smelled like him and me, but since that wasn't possible as I needed him as backup, it often resulted in situations like this.

Mathias roughly grabbed my arm and dragged me to the other side of the reception room through a door into the living room and from there into the bathroom. His hands dug painfully into my skin and I winced but I knew it was useless to resist; as long as I wasn't willing to use my power over him I was no match for him at all.

I knew he needed to release all the pent up anger and frustration caused by the constant necessity to uphold a calm and uncaring front. Even after two years, he still had to suppress his rage.

But the truth was; I was more than willing to help him with that.

Mathias slammed the door shut and pushed me against the nearest wall, trapping me between his arms and pressing his lips against mine. He didn't wait for me to let him in; instead he pushed my lips apart with his tongue and forced me into submission with his aggressive assault. He took my hands and put them against the wall above my head, using one hand to hold them in place, while keeping his mouth on mine, don't granting me even a second to catch my breath.

I could feel his hot touch through the fabric of my shirt as his hand wandered down my chest. He pulled back just a little, to bite my lip, drawing blood and smearing the red liquid over my chin with his tongue. He gripped my shirt and pulled, ripping of seams and buttons alike until my upper body was bared to his hungry eyes. I was breathing hard by then, tension building in my body as Mathias continued to rid me of my clothes.

My pants flew to the ground in shreds and Mathias pressed his body against mine, his lips wandered along my jaw to the lobe of my ear to bite down again, this time gentler without breaking the skin. I closed my eyes and gave in into the heat of Mathias' touch as his fingers trailed over my stomach, over the hip bone to the inner thigh, playing with the soft fabric of my underwear oh so teasingly.

With an abrupt movement he tore the last piece that covered my body and grinded his lower body into mine, creating enough friction to make me moan. Heat was pooling in my abdomen and I threw my head back in pleasure.

A groan and I was turned around so that I faced the wall, Mathias' hands were on me, rubbing me until I was hard and lusting for more. I moaned his name and I could feel his finger wander, drawing circles around my sac, taunting the soft skin, eliciting wanton sounds from me. His body was slowly moving against mine, his clothed erection growing every second against my back side, his lips and tongue were nipping at my ear, always a sensitive spot, sending shivers through my body, making my hard member twitch in anticipation.

He pressed a leg between my knees, forcing them apart, he then lifted his knee to rub against the base of my member; his hands had wandered up against and were now playing with my nipples. His breath had become shallow by then; I could feel his hot breath against the skin of my neck.

"Just… hng… fuck me already." I commanded. I hated it when he teased me like this, acting rough and needy but refused to give me any release.

But this game was played with Mathias' rules and he was not yet ready to give me what I wanted. He continued rubbing against me, but refused to go any deeper with his hands. My hands were pressed against the cool wall, but I wanted nothing more than to move them down and palm my throbbing erection. As if he had read my mind Mathias whispered into my ear: "Don't move." He was playing with my nipples, pinching, prodding, caressing and my nails dug into the wall to keep them from reaching down and breaking Mathias' rule.

I could have just done it, overruling his word with mine, in the end I held the ultimate power, but that was not how this game worked. If I gave in to that, I would lose. If I broke his rule, I would be punished. And as delicious as his punishments were, there were days when I needed to obey, when he needed me to obey, so I did, closing my eyes and biting my lips, everything to distract me from the growing need between my thighs.

Because sometimes it was essential to surrender control completely to Mathias.

I could taste blood where Mathias had bitten my lip earlier; my teeth had ripped the wound open again. Mathias was breathing against the back of my neck, his lips ghosted over my skin, barely touching and then he suddenly sank his teeth into my flesh, not enough to draw blood but forceful enough to create pain. My eyes shot open and I involuntarily arched my back, pushing my lower body downwards in the process and onto Mathias knee between my legs.

Mathias grew still and I froze, waiting for what he would do to punish me for my disobedience. It didn't matter that I hadn't done it on purpose, things like that had never mattered. He pulled back, leaving me pressed against the wall while he was walking through the room, preparing whatever it was that he had in store for me.

Then suddenly I was lifted up into his arms and carried through the room, the warmth of his body felt strange through his clothes against my naked skin. He carried me to the shower and put me down again, making me stand against the wall again like I had only moments ago. I heard rustling; he was undressing behind me, before he stepped into the shower and closed the glass door. I could feel the heat that radiated from his body; it was especially strong around the lower parts, he was more aroused than I if that was even possible.

But he still didn't touch me; instead he reached past me and put on the water. The first few seconds were agonizingly as the ice cold water poured over my body, but thankfully the temperature soon rose to a higher degree until it was comfortably warm. I closed my eyes again to protect them from the running water, my body more and more relaxing under the warm stream of water, only my still weeping erection was keeping me from fully enjoying the shower.

And then Mathias hands were on me again, tracing the ribs that showed through the skin of my back, pausing at the spots where the vertebrae were poking through the skin. He moved closer until his lips were at my ears again and he nipped at the lobe, grazing with his teeth over the sensitive area followed by the tender caress of his tongue. The sensation was odd, the water drowned most of it away; only the heat that pulsed through his veins remained and burned itself in my skin.

I sucked in air through my teeth as one of his hands made its way to my front and reclaimed the territory of my chest. His other hand disappeared from my back and I could hear the snap of a soap bottle opening and then the flow of water stopped. Mathias hands spread the creamy soap among my body, taking his time to cover every piece of skin in range, carefully massaging every trace of that smell that still lingered on me away. He took his time, and then finally, thankfully he reached the area between my thighs and he continued to massage the soap with meticulous diligence onto my hungry erection, each rub was accompanied by a soft moan.

I didn't notice when he got up, his hand was still on my member and that was the only sensation that made it through the haze that was my mind. And then without warning, without preparation, he pushed into me, the burning penetration only eased by what little soap he had put on his shaft beforehand. I couldn't bite back the sharp cry of pain; it had been too sudden and too surprising.

Mathias didn't wait for me to adjust; he just pulled back and slammed back into me again, this time though slamming directly into my prostate. Pain mixed with intense pleasure surged through my body, I was panting hard by then, my hands sliding down the slippery tiled wall, but I still hold on to it because there was nothing else. And then there were arms around me, strong and warm arms, gripping my hands, holding me in place as my body was continuously shaken by Mathias relentless assault.

My soap covered body was pressed against Mathias' chest as he continued to thrust into me. I pushed back my hips into him, to deepen the penetration and to increase the intense sensation. Mathias grunted in pleasure and then he bit down on my neckline, I let out a moan and then there was no holding back anymore. I openly voiced my pleasure, I moaned against the wet tiles, I panted, I gasped, and Mathias played on me as if I were a finely tuned instrument.

The pain was long gone, leaving behind only pleasure and bliss. Suddenly Mathias pushed my head against the wall so that my check was pressed against it, and then there was nothing, no contact except his member inside of me and the rhythmically slap of skin against skin.

My vision was blurring, Mathias slammed continuously against my prostate and I wouldn't be able to hold back any longer. Heat was pooling in my abdomen, and even without Mathias touching me, my erection was close to bursting. My orgasm was building up, despite the uncomfortable position I was in, but there was still something missing.

"Mathias… ahh… please, I need… hng… you." I forced the words out through the panting, and as if that had been the sign Mathias had waited on, he pulled me back into his arms and I came. With his name on my lips I sprayed my release all over the wall, my body was shacking from the power of the forceful orgasm and I sank back into Mathias' chest, legs gone weak, all supported by his strong arms.

Mathias thrust a few more times into me, before he too came deep inside of me, pressing his face into my neck, muffling his moans and coating my insides with his essence.

We both took a moment to calm down again; the aftermath of the intense high took its time it allowed us to calm down. Mathias arms were wrapped around me, comforting me as he whispered into my ear: "I love you." And I couldn't help but smile and I raised my still soapy arm, bending it backwards to lay my hand on his cheek, feeling the heat that was radiating from him and whispered back: "I love you too."

"When this is over, I'm going to take you away from here, I will show you the world through the eyes of a dragon, I'll bring you to places you have never seen before and I will love you under the stars as many times as I want." His voice was hoarse, not as hoarse as mine was from the constant moaning but laced with thick emotion.

I interlaced my finger with his, as he placed his hand over mine, feeling the faintest hint of a smile forming under my touch. How come that the man who had just fucked me so rough against the wall of my shower could be so sweet and sappy in the next moment?

I wondered what I would be like after I had lived for thousand years.

And if I managed to not get myself killed I would maybe even reach the age of a millenium. After all Mathias was still considered a young dragon and as long as he wouldn't grow tired of me I could stay with him and live as long as he would. But I would have to be careful, what I had discovered so far of the circumstances of my parent's death and the conspiracy they had been part of, things could very well get pretty dangerous.

Was it really worth it?

My parents were dead, no matter what I did to their murderer, they wouldn't come back. And what point laid in getting revenge when I had the chance of living an almost immortal life, without aging, sickness or disease?

For the first time I was having doubts about the path I had chosen. Tinos worried expression floated before my inner vision and I wondered again if it was truly worth it. I had no other friend than Tino left, and even he wouldn't stay any longer after how I treated him.

I didn't need anyone besides Mathias though.

But what if he got killed because of me? Using him in a war was of course placing him in the face of danger. We could just leave instead and do what Mathias had just said we would do. Why waiting?

The newly switched on water interrupted my moment of reflection, my doubts all were washed away with the warm liquid that flowed down my body. I had put two years of effort into my revenge, there was no way I would stop now. Mathias could take care of himself and I wouldn't die so easily either. We just had to be careful.

Mathias made sure that I was thoroughly washed and cleaned before he allowed me to step out of the shower. I picked up a towel from the cabinet under the sink and dried up, Mathias rarely used towels; he just shook to get rid of as much water as possible and then would wait until his body heat had dried away the rest.

When I returned to the living room, I saw that an envelope was lying on one of the side tables in the reception room. The only person who was allowed to enter my room was the imperial courier, who would deliver letters and messages. He was sworn to discretion by law and would only enter the reception room to deposit his delivery if I was not at home, or like today simply not answering the door, because I was occupied otherwise.

The envelope bore the official seal of the imperial house with the initials I. A. beneath it, representing the Imperial Administrator.

So Tino had kept to his word and arranged a meeting.

It was time to go investigating then.

...