Page 28 of Dragon’s Revenge (Irresistible Dragons #7)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I n his wildest dreams—back when he’d still been na?ve enough to allow himself to dream, to have hopes for the future—Oliver could never have imagined his life would turn out like this. To others, it might be something incredibly mundane, sharing a walk with their partner, but to Oliver, walking hand in hand with Adar was pure magic. Delton was on Adar’s other side, and judging by the beaming smile on his face, he was enjoying himself too.

And then there was Adar. He sported the goofiest grin ever, which made Oliver go all weak inside. How could such a tough and strong man look so freaking adorable? Seriously, he looked like a German Shepherd flashing one of those silly dog smiles that made scary dogs suddenly seem like cuddle bugs.

“It’s gonna snow soon,” Adar said, looking at the sky.

“It is? I hadn’t heard the forecast,” Oliver said.

Adar smiled at him. “I don’t need a forecast. You can feel it in the air. It has a certain feel to it, like wet cold that seeps into your bones.”

Oliver frowned as he stared at the gray clouds overhead. Did they feel…wet? Cold for sure, but he didn’t get what was so special about them.

“I often get a bit of a headache when there’s snow coming,” Delton said. “It’s not a bad one, but it’s this pressure inside my head. My mom always said it was from the change in barometric pressure.”

Hmm, that kinda made sense. “Are you close with your parents?”

“I am. They live on the other side of the country, though, and weren’t happy when I chose to stay here after college and, later on, join the pack. They understood, but my mom took it hard. She hoped I would move back there after finishing my degree.”

“Why did you stay?” Adar asked.

Delton shrugged. “Boyfriend. I thought he was worth staying for, but he ended up cheating on me, so it didn’t last long. But by then, I’d found a job I loved at an organization for youth mental health, so I stayed anyway.”

“He cheated on you?” Adar’s voice held a little growl, enough to make Oliver smile.

“I assumed moving in together implied being exclusive. He thought differently. In the most cliché situation ever, I unexpectedly came home from work early due to a power outage and found him in bed with our neighbor. It was clear it wasn’t the first time either. When I confronted him, he stated we’d never agreed to be exclusive.”

Adar let out another growl, a lower, more menacing one. “What’s his name?”

Delton chuckled. “I don’t hate him enough to tell you, big guy. You’d go after him.”

“Someone should make him pay.”

Seriously, the guy was still recovering from injuries he’d sustained from defending Oliver’s honor and he was ready to go to the mat for Delton? He was so protective of them. Oliver loved it.

Delton patted Adar’s hand. “I appreciate the thought, but he’s not worth it. Trust me, he’s not. I’ve barely even thought about him over the last few years, so that tells you how little it meant to me. Sure, at the time, it hurt, but I quickly realized I was better off without him. I’d imagined us to be in love, but it was only sex. Great sex, but just sex.”

Sex. He was expected to have sex with them now, wasn’t he? They were together, a threesome. Sex was a part of that dynamic, or it should be. But what if he didn’t want that? The thought of having sex made sweat break out all over his body. Yes, his heat with Adar had been a positive experience, but that was different. He wasn’t himself then. Delton had confirmed that too, hadn’t he? He’d stressed it was a biological need, something his body demanded, not a conscious choice.

But outside of his heat, he didn’t have that need. He didn’t want to have sex. He liked the brief kisses he’d shared with Adar, but he had no desire to take it any further than that. And gods, he hadn’t even kissed Delton yet. He should have, right? He should want that. They were his mates. He should want to kiss them and have sex with them.

He truly was broken. Damaged in a way that would probably never heal…and his mates would suffer because of it. He’d never be able to give them what they wanted from him, what they were entitled to. Unless… He’d have to bear it. Surely, he’d be able to pretend, right? At least he was certain they’d be gentle with him. Unlike…

The flashback came so suddenly that it literally stole his breath. Pain washed over him, his lungs seizing as he found himself shoved hard against a wall, trapped under Dempsey’s body, the alpha forcing himself?—

“Oliver!” A gentle tap against his cheek. “Oliver, baby, listen to my voice. Do you recognize my voice? You’re safe, baby. You’re with me, with us. You’re safe.”

He did know that voice, but he couldn’t pull back from the memory. It was drowning him, pulling him under until he couldn’t breathe. Dempsey was in his nose, his ears, his taste, inside him in every way, and gods, it hurt. Everything hurt…

“Do you smell the fresh air? Listen, there are birds singing. Do you hear them? And there’s a cold wind biting your cheeks. You’re outside. You’re dressed. Can you sense that? Feel the warmth of your jacket as it hugs you.”

He blinked, and something inside him snapped like a connection was severed. Delton. He was with Delton. Delton was safe. He’d never hurt Oliver.

His cheeks were cold, but his body was warm. He was wearing a soft sweater, the fleece gentle against his skin.

“Take a deep breath for me, baby, and blow it out. We’ll do it together. Breathe in…one, two, three, four… And out… One, two, three, four. And again.”

He focused on his breathing, on the kind voice giving him instructions. Someone was softly caressing his hand, holding it with infinite tenderness. Adar. He could smell him, that cologne he always wore. Manly and musky, but also subtle and soft.

A few more blinks, and he was finally back, pulled from the depth of that flashback, staring at his mates.

“There you are,” Delton said softly, brushing his finger against Oliver’s cheek. “Stay with us, baby. You’re safe.”

He was safe. Gods, he was safe. He would always be safe with them. Dempsey was dead. Adar had killed him for what he’d done to Oliver.

Tears came, and once they started, he couldn’t stop them. “We need to get him inside,” he heard Delton say, but it was like his voice came through a thick layer of mist.

And then strong arms lifted him and he was cradled against a broad chest. He kept crying as Adar carried him, endless tears that he couldn’t explain, couldn’t hold back, couldn’t stop. They kept pouring out of him like a break in a water line, and he surrendered to it, letting them come.

Finally, they were inside, where gentle hands took off his jacket. He was carried to the couch, where he was tucked against Adar’s chest, a blanket wrapped around him. But Delton was there too, whispering words of encouragement to him, telling him he was safe, that he would be okay, that he could let it all out.

And when the tears finally stopped, when he felt like he had nothing left to give, the last bit of tension left his body, and he sagged against Adar. “I don’t wanna have sex,” he croaked.

“I know, baby. That’s okay.”

Delton didn’t sound shocked. Oliver opened his swollen eyes, blinking a few times to clear his vision. “I don’t mean right now. I mean, in general. Like, ever. Well, outside of my heat, probably.”

Delton’s eyes were so kind and understanding as he met Delton’s. “I knew what you meant. And that’s okay.”

“But we’re mates. Doesn’t that mean I’m supposed to…have sex?”

“No.” Delton firmly shook his head. “Sex is never a requirement. It’s a gift that should be freely given.”

A gift. Oliver had never thought about sex like that. To him, it had always been… How did he even describe it?

Something forced, taken from him without his consent. An ordeal. Abuse. Trauma. Nothing but pain and suffering.

“Stay with me, baby,” Delton said, preventing Oliver from sliding back into the memories.

“How long until this stops? Until I…forget?”

Adar made a wounded sound as if he himself was hurting, and for a moment, his arms tightened around Oliver. But it didn’t trigger fear in him, only comfort.

“Forget?” Delton hesitated, then took Oliver’s hand and laced their fingers together. “You’ll never forget, but over time and with therapy, you’ll be able to reduce the flashbacks and the painful memories. It will become…bearable. Manageable.”

“W-will I ever learn to like sex?”

This time, Delton didn’t miss a beat. “That’s not the goal, baby. The goal is to lighten the heavy load of your trauma, not make you want something that carries so many bad memories.”

“B-but… But we’re mates. How can we be mates if we don’t have sex? How will you ever…love me if I can’t do that for you?”

“Sex isn’t something you need to do for us,” Adar said softly. “It’s something you should only do if it makes you happy, if you like it. And if you don’t, that’s fine.”

Oliver didn’t understand. How could they be so cool about it, so calm? Why weren’t they upset?

“Oliver, baby, being mates isn’t about sex. And when we fall in love…” Delton gently lifted Oliver’s chin so their eyes met. “And notice I said when and not if… When we fall in love, it won’t be because of sex. Sex is only one way to express attraction or love. Adar and I like you for who you are, not for your body or what it can offer us.”

Something unclenched inside Oliver, like a clamp being released. “You mean that? You won’t be angry if I can never…be with you that way?”

“I promise.” Delton looked at Adar. “And I know Adar feels the same way.”

“I do,” Adar confirmed. “It doesn’t change anything for me.”

How could that be? But they wouldn’t lie to him. They’d never do that, especially not about something that important. “It’s hard for me to believe, but I’ll try.”

“That’s enough.” Delton squeezed his hand. “But we do need to make some ground rules together to set expectations.”

“Like what?” Adar asked.

“Well, like agreeing on what we are all okay with. Like, are you okay with us kissing you, Oliver, or would you prefer we always ask permission first? How would you feel about Adar and me having a sex life together? Is that something you’d be okay with, and if so, would we need to do that with or without you present, or does it not matter to you? How do we handle your future heats? We could talk to Enar to see if we could experiment with heat blockers to save you from going through your heat. Or maybe there’s a surgical option. I mean, there is for wolves because a hysterectomy ends heats, but I’m not sure how it works for dragons.”

Oliver’s head dazzled. So many questions, so many decisions. But above all, so much understanding. A deep sense of peace washed over him. They meant it. They were fine with it, with him. They accepted him the way he was, with all his baggage and limitations. All he had to do was communicate. And so he took a deep breath.

“Kissing is okay. I like kissing, probably because they never kissed me. It holds no negative memories for me. But anything else is…not okay.”

Adar nodded. “Noted.”

“And I like the idea of you two having sex. You both like sex, right?”

Delton chuckled. “Erm, that’s affirmative.”

Adar mumbled, “Yes.”

“So you two have sex as often as you want.” He cocked his head, picturing his two mates together. Would he want to see it? Hmm, maybe, but he wasn’t dead set on it. “I don’t need to be there. I may want to be down the line, but for now, do it without me.”

“Even if that means telling you we’ll be somewhere else to have sex?” Delton pressed. “I don’t ask that to make you uncomfortable, but because I want to make sure you understand what this would look like. I refuse to lie to you, so if we do it this way, we need to be able to tell you what we’re up to.”

Oliver considered it. “Yeah, I’m okay with that. I like the idea that it’s something you can share with each other. You also have your…other sessions, so it fits with that.”

Adar’s cheeks grew red. “Erm, yes. There’s that too.” He cleared his throat. “Thank you for, erm, understanding. That I need this and that we want this.”

They were thanking him? In what universe was that normal? The one he lived in now, apparently, but Oliver doubted he’d ever grow used to it. “I want you to be happy and to enjoy yourselves. And if that’s with sex, then that’s fine.”

“I’m sure we will enjoy it,” Delton said dryly, then burst into laughter as Adar’s face grew even redder. “Once our big guy here manages to get past his own embarrassment.”

Our big guy. Oh, Oliver liked that, thinking of Adar as theirs. Not his alone, but theirs .

Then he sobered again. “I didn’t know surgery could be an option to stop me from having heats at all,” he said.

Delton held up a hand. “I’m not certain that it is, but it’s definitely something we can ask Enar if you’re certain you want to stop your heats completely. Because, baby, that also means you’d never have biological kids. That you could never become pregnant or carry eggs or whatever you call it. Which is fine with us, but you have to consider all of that when you make your decision.”

Kids. Holy crap, he’d never even considered that. He should have, of course, but for some reason, that consideration hadn’t even entered his mind. And, of course, Adar would want to have kids. He’d need an alpha heir, and since Delton was a beta…

Wait. Delton had said us . He’d said not having kids was fine with us, meaning him and Adar. “You already talked about this? About having kids?”

“It came up in a conversation we had.” Adar scratched his chin. “We both agreed we’d be open to adopting. There are a lot of orphans in the capital who need a family. I mean, not right now, but down the line. When we’re more…established. Is that the right word? When we’re stable in our relationship and ready for it. And maybe we decide we’re not the right people to have kids of our own, and that’s okay too. There’s plenty of kids in the pack we could babysit, right?”

Oliver swallowed. “It would mean no alpha heir for you.”

Adar nodded. “Yeah, Delton said the same thing, but you know what’s funny? I never even considered that until he brought it up. Whenever I pictured myself with a family, it was always in a general sense that I’d love to have kids, but never specifically that they had to be my own biologically. It’s not about me needing to continue my family name or some alpha BS about needing an heir. What the fuck would I need an heir for? All I want is to be happy with you two and serve my pack. That’s it.” He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a simple man.”

Simple? Maybe, but that was not the first association Oliver had with Adar. The man was honorable, fiercely protective, and so good, so kind. And so was Delton. In his wildest dreams, Oliver couldn’t have imagined he’d end up with two men who would take care of him like this, who respected him and honored his wishes, listened to him…who loved him. Because they did. They might not have said so, but they did.

And Oliver loved him back with all his heart. They were his, and he was theirs. Forever.

Oliver’s eyes fluttered closed as exhaustion rolled over him. His last thought before he allowed himself to fall asleep on Adar’s lap was that he’d gotten so, so lucky with his mates.