by Joyee Flynn
“Since the moment I saw him over three years ago,” he answered before realizing what he’d said. “It doesn’t matter, he doesn’t like me. I’ve kept him at arm’s length for too long for him to ever forgive me for the things I’ve done.”
“If he doesn’t want me, I’ll let him go,” Austin said softly after a moment. “I can give him a life far from me, take care of him. If he wants you, then I’ll get you guys a house far away from me.”
“I thought dragons were possessive and crazy for their mates?”
“We are.”
“Then why are you okay with me touching him right now?”
“Because I think I knew you guys were a package deal,” Austin admitted, shocking Dante down to his core. Before he could reply, Garreck stirred.
“Why are you touching me?” Garreck moaned as his eyes fluttered open. Dante gasped when he say the confusion and anger in Garreck’s expression, focused on him. “You never touch me. Where’s Austin?”
“I’m right here, sweetheart,” the dragon said softly and moved to kneel next to Dante. Garreck glanced between the two of them before looking down at his groin, which Dante had been cleaning. Dante bit his lip as Garreck’s cock filled up right before their eyes as Garreck stared at Dante’s hand between his legs.
“Then why am I in the tub with your hand cleaning my ass?”
“Because I was an asshole and Dante came in to witness part of it. He carried you out of my office and came up here to take care of you when I should have. I-I was in shock.”
“You fucked me until I blacked out.” Garreck chuckled as he sat up and pulled away from Dante. “How is that being an asshole? I’m sorry I passed out on you. Hopefully you take it as a compliment of how hard I came… twice.”
“That’s not why I’m an asshole,” Austin replied softly as Garreck got out of the tub. Austin dried off the smaller man before lifting him into his massive arms and carrying him into the bedroom.
“Um, thanks for taking care of me then, I guess,” Garreck said to Dante, his eyebrows scrunched together.
“You are welcome, Garreck.”
“Sweetheart, we need to talk about some things,” Austin said as he sat on the bed, cradling Garreck on his lap. He glanced up at Dante, and he felt his blood boil.
“I’m not fucking leaving you alone with him. You know what you did last time,” he snarled. “You are not to be trusted.”
“What is going on?” Garreck asked, glancing at him before looking back at the dragon. “Why is Dante so pissed and acting like my keeper?”
“Tell him,” he answered when Austin looked at him for help. Dante flopped back on the couch across from the bed, ready to intercede if he needed to.
“I shouldn’t have bitten you.”
“It’s okay. I wanted you to,” Garreck replied slowly. “But what was that thing that latched on inside of me? That was kinda scary before I came again and passed out.”
“It was my mating knot,” Austin explained, burying his face in the smaller man’s curls. Dante had to give it to the guy. He did seem to feel remorse for what happened. “When I bit you, I claimed you as my mate. That knot extends when dragons have sex with their mates to give our seed a chance to get you pregnant. Our DNA does something to our mates that can change a man’s internal structure so he can give birth to our child.”
“You said you weren’t sure you wanted to keep me,” Garreck said softly after a moment as he pushed off of Austin. Dante was shocked when he walked over to him and sat down on the couch. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around Garreck to comfort him. “Why mate with me and try to knock me up if you are not sure you want me?”
“I’ve never had the inkling to bite anyone before. I wasn’t ready for it. I didn’t realize I’d done it until after I had my orgasm and the mating knot came out.”
“So you don’t want to keep me? It was an accident?”
“Yes, it was an accident,” Austin said as he stood up. Garreck started to shake against him, and Dante held up a hand to tell the dragon to keep his distance. The large man listened, immediately sitting back down. “It doesn’t mean I don’t want you as my mate, sweetheart. I’ve never wanted to bite someone before, so that tells me a lot. I’m just devastated I did it without your permission. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Yeah, asking me first would have been nice,” Garreck mumbled as he snuggled up against Dante. “Why are you here comforting me? You don’t want me either.”
“We can talk about that later, baby,” he said gently. “Let’s deal with one issue at a time, okay?”
“So what happens now?” Garreck asked after a few minutes of silence. “I’m your mate, and you might have knocked me up. Which I didn’t know was possible, by the way.”
“It’s only with mated dragon shifters, not normal humans.” Austin nodded and then rubbed his hands over his face. “What do you want to happen, sweetheart? I’ll do anything you want. Do you want to leave?”
“You’d just get me pregnant and kick me out?” Garreck sniffled, burying his face in Dante’s shirt as he started to shake harder. “I thought you said you wouldn’t make me leave?”
“No, I’m not kicking you out or making you leave,” Austin said quickly. He got off the bed, ignoring Dante’s dirty looks and knelt in front of Garreck. “I’m saying I understand if you want to get away from me because of what I’ve done. Dante can take you to one of my other houses, or I can buy you your own house far away from me. Just tell me what you want, sweetheart. I’ll do whatever you want to make this right.”
“Don’t you want me to stay?” Garreck asked, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Why are you immediately talking about me leaving?”
“Yes, I want you to stay,” Austin whispered, reaching out to brush away his tears. “I just figured after what I’ve done you’d want to get as far away from me as possible.”
“You said it was an accident, right? You weren’t trying to trap me or knock me up without asking what I wanted first.”
“Yeah, it was an accident, but that doesn’t make it okay.”
“No it doesn’t,” Garreck said with a nod. “But it helps me try to understand what’s going on. If you didn’t mean to do it, I’m not just going to run away from this. I mean, you said you still want me here. But do you want me as your mate or just as an obligation since you fucked up?”
“I want you,” Austin whispered and leaned forward to kiss Garreck. Dante found himself getting hard at the sight, not feeling jealous at all. “It’s faster than I would ever have planned, and it wasn’t the way I would have done it if it had been on purpose. But I’ve mated us, sweetheart. I want my mate to stay with me always and to fall in love with you like mates should.”
“Do I have to answer right now?” Garreck asked, glancing at Dante for the answer.
“No, baby. You can take all the time you need,” Dante replied as he ran his hand down Garreck’s back. He glanced over at Austin, letting him know that it wasn’t up for debate. When Austin nodded in agreement, he felt a little better about the situation. While the dragon fucked up majorly, he was doing everything in his power to fix it. “Would you like to take a nap? Or do you want to just watch a movie and relax?”
“I’d like a nap,” he answered, nodding as he pulled away from Austin, moving closer to Dante. “Will you stay with me? I don’t get why you are always around, but you make me feel safe.”
“Whatever you need, baby,” Dante whispered as he helped Garreck stand.
“Do you want me to have dinner sent up here? Or do you think you can stand the sight of me later?” Austin asked as they crawled into bed without him.
“We’ll come down for dinner,” Garreck answered as he lay on his side, resting his head on Dante’s shoulder. He looked over Dante to the dragon as he spoke. “I’m going to have questions about all of this and what it means for me. But for now, I just need to process. I’m not going to run or leave with Dante, Austin. I just need to think.”
�
��That’s much more than I deserve,” Austin said, giving a weak smile before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.
“What should I do?” Garreck whispered a few minutes after the dragon left. “Will you leave if say I’ll be his mate?”
“No, baby, I’ll never leave you when you need me.”
“Why?”
“That’s another conversation for another time, Garreck.” He sighed, wrapping his arms tighter around the smaller man. “You’ve got enough on your plate right now. Just know that I’ll be here for you no matter what you need or want.”
“It’s like you love me, but you really don’t,” Garreck mumbled with a yawn.
“If only you understand how much I love you,” Dante thought as sleep pulled them both under. It wasn’t that he didn’t love Garreck. He loved the smaller man so much that he’d pretended to use him for years as his pet to keep the other slaves away. He loved Garreck enough to not be intimate with the confused younger man in that crap hole they were held at. Hell, he’d offered to take the horrid jobs that upset Garreck, no matter what it did to Dante.
He just loved Garreck. And now he was mated to the dragon and might be having his child. But yet, he turned to Dante for comfort. That was a good sign, right?
Chapter 3
“I need you to pick up some pregnancy tests, love,” Austin said in the phone a little while after he left the men in bed. He’d called Kelley while she was out running errands. “And whatever someone who’s pregnant might need. I’m sure there are vitamins and stuff for morning sickness if he gets it.”
“Austin, what happened?” she asked, her voice laced with concern. “Did you mate with Garreck?”
“Yes,” he choked out, as his eyes started to burn. “I didn’t mean to, Kelley. I did it without his permission. I claimed my mate without realizing it. He’s never going to forgive me.”
“Oh, Austin,” she whispered, sounding just as emotional as he felt. “He’ll forgive you. I see a lot of love in that little guy. And he wants you. He was asking me if you were gay, and I could see a wicked gleam in his eye. Just give him time to adjust, okay?”
“How do I make this right?”
“Presents normally work when you fuck up with a loved one.” She chuckled and then clucked her tongue. “What would any normal twenty-one year old want?”
“I have no idea,” he admitted, rubbing his hands over his face. “I want to give him everything. And not just because I mated him, Kelley. From the moment I saw him, I knew I would give him everything he ever wanted, Dante, too.”
“You have feelings for both of them.” She didn’t bother to ask, merely making the statement.
“Yeah and there’s something between them, too. Dante admitted to being in love with Garreck for years, but he’s not acted on it. I don’t know what that all means. And I know we’re all going to have to talk about it later, but what I’ve done comes first.”
“He’s not running away from you though, right? I mean, he’s still there after you talked to him?”
“No, he’s not running. He said he wouldn’t.” Austin sighed. “He’s taking a nap with Dante since he feels safe with him.”
“Well, he’s known Dante for a long time,” she hedged. “It makes sense he would seek comfort with someone he knows. But he’s not running, Austin. That’s a good sign that you can make this right.”
“You can get a man flowers, right? Maybe I should get him some roses, too.”
“I think that’s a great idea. I’ll stop at the florist on the way home.”
“Thanks, love. What would I ever do without you?”
“You’ll never have to find out.” She snickered and then hung up.
He felt better after talking to his friend. Kelley was right. It was a good sign that Garreck wasn’t running from him. And he’d do whatever it took to make this right and give his mate a great life. To take his mind off of his immediate worries while he thought of a game plan, Austin spent the next few hours working.
The next time he looked up at the clock, he realized it was after six and Kelley probably had dinner ready. He stood and stretched before making his way into the kitchen to check on her.
“Finally coming out into the world?” she teased as she put a baking sheet with bread sticks in the oven. “I got them a bunch of clothes, a Wii, and a bunch of games. I figured that would be something every guy would want. I also got three dozen roses and set up for another arrangement to be delivered tomorrow.”
“Yeah, one time of flowers isn’t enough.” He chuckled nervously. Gathering up his courage, he looked his housekeeper in the eye. “Do you think less of me for what I’ve done?”
“God no, Austin.” She gasped and threw her arms around him. “You made a mistake, okay? And you’re doing everything you can to make him happy and apologize. You didn’t intentionally hurt him or beat him. There’s a big difference, and I’m proud of you for trying to make this right.”
“Thank you,” he whispered, hugging her back tightly. “Should I go get them for dinner?”
“Yes, it will be ready in about five minutes,” Kelley said as he pushed him to the door. “Now go get your mates so we can feed them. They’re way too skinny, and if Garreck’s pregnant, he needs to eat right.”
He nodded and left, not commenting on the fact she said mates as in plural. It seemed Kelley had already decided he’d be with Dante, too. The idea made him smile, but he didn’t know if it would be a reality. For now, he had to fix things with Garreck and talk to Dante before daydreaming about being mated to them both.
Austin was just about to knock on the door when he got to Garreck’s room, but froze when he heard the most gorgeous voice singing. He quietly opened the door, peeking his head in. Dante was sitting up in the bed with Garreck’s head in his lap, singing to the smaller man as he ran his fingers through Garreck’s hair. It took him a minute to recognize the song and was shocked when he placed it.
“Are you singing the theme from Beauty and the Beast?” Austin asked softly as he walked towards the bed.
Dante’s head snapped up, the color draining from his face before it turned bright red with embarrassment. “Garreck likes Disney movies. He saw a few as a kid, and that’s about the only thing he remembers of his childhood before he was kidnapped. I sing the ones I know to him when he’s upset or no one’s around.”
“You have an amazing voice,” Austin said with a sense of awe. “Have you ever had lessons? Or are you naturally talented.”
“No, no lessons.” Dante chuckled and then shrugged. “I don’t do it much. I mean, I didn’t want to give the guys who had us or the other slaves any reason to think I wasn’t a tough son of a bitch.”
“It was one of the only things about that place that made me happy,” Garreck said sleepily. Austin looked down at his beautiful mate as Garreck gave a soft smile as those big blue eyes shined up at him. “Whenever I came back from a job or someone was mean to me, Dante always sang to me. Though normally he doesn’t hold me like this.”
“Never wanted to show how much I cared in front of them,” Dante admitted quietly. “If they knew how much you meant to me, they’d use that against both of us.”
“Is that why you pretended to rape me? So they’d think I was just your property?”
“Yes,” Dante whispered, and a lot of the puzzle pieces fell into place for Austin on the dynamic of their relationship.
“Are you guys hungry?” he asked, breaking the awkward silence as they both got out of bed. “Kelley’s a fantastic cook, and I saw her popping breadsticks in the oven. That normally means lasagna.”
“Food would be good,” Dante answered as he handed Garreck one of the T-shirts Austin had given them earlier. It was big enough that it almost came down to the smaller man’s knees. “I think you guys need to do some talking, too, when Garreck’s ready.”
“Yeah, I have questions,” he said as they headed to the kitchen. “For both of you.”
“I’ll answer what
ever you want to know,” Austin replied as Dante and he exchanged a glance. The other man looked confused, but Austin had a good idea about what Garreck was going to ask the Dante. He just hoped the answers wouldn’t push Garreck over the edge after everything that had happened.
* * * *
They sat down at the kitchen table after they got there. Garreck had so many questions he wanted to ask, although he was still trying to wrap his brain around everything. But the silent tension between the three of them was almost strangling him.
Kelley had made lasagna, which she served with salad and breadsticks. She sat down to join them after Austin got everyone drinks. The silence continued, and it was enough to make Garreck almost lose his appetite. Except, all those years being held prisoner taught him to eat when food was available since he didn’t know the next time he’d be fed. After about fifteen uncomfortable minutes dragged on, Kelley broke.
“Enough of this,” she said loudly, throwing her hands up in the air. “I know you are all men, but you can talk to each other about what you’re feeling.” She pointed at Austin first. “Say you are sorry again and give them their presents.” Then she turned to Dante. “And you need to admit that you love Garreck.” And lastly, she turned to him. “And you need to tell them that you want them both and ask the questions I know are swirling in that pretty little head of yours.”
“Kelley,” Austin groaned as Dante blushed.
“You don’t love me, do you?” Garreck asked Dante, his eyes going wide in shock.
“With all my heart,” the man admitted quietly.
“What about presents?” Garreck squeaked out, his mind going a hundred miles an hour at Dante’s statement.
“Kelley got you guys a bunch of stuff, clothes and a few presents to try and show that I’m sorry,” Austin said, looking like a kid that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Garreck followed his gaze to the back corner of the kitchen as his jaw dropped. How had he missed that one? There had to be at least thirty large shopping bags overflowing with things.
“That’s all for us?” he asked, glancing between Kelley and Austin. She smiled widely and nodded, while he looked nervous. Then she elbowed him and gestured to the counter. Austin bounded out of his chair and picked up the largest bouquet of flowers Garreck had ever seen.
