Dragonmen 2: Mate Test

Excerpt:
High Duke Torrance Zelan took another long drink of his hot, bitter brew and thought moodily over his trip into the dragon world. Some days there wasn’t enough coffee in the universe to help wake a man up. This would be his second trip after visiting his cousin Joriah for his mating ceremony. Now he was visiting the southern provinces to meet with the king and discuss mining rights. The High King, his uncle, wanted the rare mineral that was only found in this area of the galaxy. It was a necessary component for the processors in the new warp drives. As he was already semi-familiar with the planet and had a personal connection with dragons, his uncle thought he would be the perfect representative.
Tor was holding back his opinion until he met the Southern King. Larien would’ve liked this trip. His lover venerated dragons. Dear, sweet, gentle Larien with his hard body and sweet voice was a man who dreamed of seeing dragons fly.
“You would’ve loved this baby.” Tor whispered to himself.
Swallowing hard, the Duke held his back tears. It was times like these he wished he’d followed his lover into the afterlife instead of lingering on. Larien’s loss hit him like a fist to the stomach.
Only his family kept his feet firmly grounded from leaving this plane for the next. He couldn’t leave his little girl and two boys. Although his heart remained tattered and bruised, he loved them.
“Did you say something, my lord?”
The Duke sighed, pressing his face into his hands, discreetly wiping away the tears with the heels of his palms. The cold glass of the window cooled his heated skin and he pulled out another sigh. Even though he couldn’t see the star field outside the window, he knew it was still there. When Baroy flew through the cosmos at night he took Tor along for the ride in his dreams. It was the only way he could see anything. Dragon bonded as a child; Tor’s vision relied solely on what the dragon wanted him to see. Subsequently, his ability to see flashed in and out like a poor intergalactic transmission. Sometimes it was excruciatingly clear but most of the time it was complete blackness.
“Nothing important, Pietro. I was thinking of how Larien would’ve loved visiting the dragons.”
The elderly man grunted in agreement. The sound of coffee pouring lured the Duke back to the small dining table. “Mr. Jall always dreamed of dragons. He would be proud that you went to visit them in his stead.”
Speechless from the lump in his throat, the Duke nodded.
Pietro cleared his throat. “He also would’ve wanted you to move on with your life.”
Tor laughed. “Very subtle, Pietro.” He picked up his coffee cup and waved the servant away. “You may retire for the night. Thank you.”
He could feel the servant staring at him. Larien always said Pietro’s gaze was frigid and that his grey eyes must be chipped from polar glaciers to achieve his icy looks. One of the benefits of being mostly blind was that he could ignore those icy stares.
“Remember what I said, Master. Mr. Jall lived for your smile. Don’t disappoint his memory by forgetting how to.”