Page 17 of The Dragon, the Bear, and Their Sugar Glider Omega

“Yeah…pens.”

“That’s so cool.” I jumped up and walked over to my desk and pulled out a pen I got for graduation. It had been a ridiculously expensive trinket from my grandfather, but also something I always felt like I needed to keep. Now I knew why. I brought it over to him. “This is my favorite one. See? It’s a fountain pen.” I opened it up and showed it to him.

He took it and looked at it. “This is... This is not junk.”

“No, it’s not.”

“I mean, this is one of the most valuable pens I’ve ever held.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing I wanted to tell you guys. I might live here in this small apartment and work at a club but…I might also be rich. Not might be. I am. Very.”

“Rich rich?” Armel asked.

“Yeah, I’m old-school wealth. I have more money than I…we could spend. I made it into the top list on Forbes last year.” It had been so embarrassing.

Both my mates’ jaws dropped. “Then why are you living here?” Armel asked, and it was a fair question.

“Because of the people in my life.” I hated this part. “For so long, I never knew if they liked me for me or they liked me for my money, and most of the time, it turned out it was my money. Guys who wanted to date me, it was always about the money. And I just wanted to be liked for me, for who I am and what I like, not because of how many zeros I had in my bank account balance.” It felt great to get it all out there.

“You know what my favorite part of you being rich is?” Rome said with a grin.

“What?” It was a weird thing to ask after my bombshell. “Security?” Because I could provide us with that. We’d never be homeless, hungry, or without medical care. Heck, we’d never be without anything they might want.

“No.” He started to laugh and reeled it back in. “It’s because now I can say I have a sugar glider.” His mischievous grin was adorable.

I groaned.

Armel groaned. “That’s a dad joke.”

“I know, and I’ve been waiting to use it ever since I saw how adorable our mate is. You’re welcome.”

I fell back against the couch, cracking up. My mates were something, and best of all, they were mine. “Is there anything that you want to tell us about yourself, Armel?”

“Honestly, the only thing I can think about right now is marking you both,” Armel said. “Yeah, that’s the entirety of my brain.”

“Well, I think we can make that happen,” I said with a smile.

“Oh, we definitely can.”

Chapter Twelve

Armel

Our sugar glider’s job at Animals came with a room. Small but cozy, and we’d had a chance to get to know one another a bit. Despite the fact that we were mates and or meeting was more like a grand reunion than connecting with strangers, we still had a lot of catching up to do. And we’d done some of that…but the desire to mate, one echoed by our animals, surged forth, and until we’d satisfied that yearning, we couldn’t do anything else.

As I’d told my mates, I couldn’t think about anything else but marking them, and all that came with that act. Just looking at Clay’s bed had me a little worried about how we’d fit, but somehow I knew we’d make it work. There wouldn’t be a lot of space between us, after all.

“I wish I had a bigger place to offer,” the sugar glider said. “But I am very glad to have you here.”

“It’s fine,” I soothed. “Better than fine.” Approaching, I held out my arms and Clay moved into them. “We are together, and I’m not sure if we’d have been able to last long enough to get to my place.”

“Or mine.” Rome joined our hug. “And mine isn’t much bigger and is not nearly as nice.”

He kissed the top of Clay’s head. “You smell so good.”

I thought they were together the best thing I’d ever smelled. “Shall we try out that bed?”

Clay tilted his face up to mine, his lips so tempting I didn’t fight the instinct to dip down and possess them. They were firm and warm, and I could have kissed him all night, but I didn’t want to be greedy with our omega, so I released him and turned him toward Rome who also kissed our omega before kissing me as well. I’d never been with two males before and had wondered if it would feel uncomfortable, but my concerns could not have been more unnecessary. They felt perfect in my arms, and kisses turned to caresses, led to undressing one another in a heated rush. I wanted to see them. Of course, we’d all been naked when shifting, but shifter manners had us not staring at one another at that point—not that I’d been able to completely not notice how hot they were. But now was the time to appreciate all that masculine beauty, and my mates did not disappoint. The dragon was muscular in a fierce way that made me want to be wrapped up in those arms. His ability to fly boggled my mind. I knew about dragons and had met a few but never been close enough to experience what I had tonight.

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